


Death and All His Friends

by sonicbros



Series: Parachutes of Ambient Chaos [1]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amy Rose/Sonic the Hedgehog (unrequited), Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Assault Of A Minor, Biting, Blood and Injury, Blow Jobs, Drowning, Eventual Smut, First Time, Frottage, Hand Jobs, Hurt/Comfort, Implied vomiting, M/M, Major Character Injury, Making Out, Mild Violence Between Partners, Minor Character Death, Near Death, Oral Sex, Sexual Confusion, Switching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2019-09-14
Packaged: 2020-05-15 03:41:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 39,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19287394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonicbros/pseuds/sonicbros
Summary: Dr. Eggman snaps—he wants Sonicdead. After the Doctor’s first attempt on the hero’s life, the G.U.N. commander assigns Shadow to watch over Sonic. Rouge suggests getting drinks at her club so that Shadow can get to know Sonic better. Though reluctant, Shadow agrees to go—and later tipsily teaches Sonic the wonders of biting.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **You must be 18 years old or older to read this fic.**

“Heya’ Tails,” Sonic greeted as he entered his best friend’s workshop. He smiled as he watched the kit give a wave as he finished putting the final touches on some newly attached device on the Tornado. “Whatcha’ working on?”

Tails bit his lip in concentration, silent for a moment before he raised his screwdriver in excitement. “Finished!” he beamed, looking over at Sonic and gesturing for him to come over. The blue hedgehog grinned and hopped up onto the wing of the plane as Tails began to explain his work. “It uses ambient Chaos energy to guide us to stronger energy sources. It’ll help us find the Chaos Emeralds!” he exclaimed.

Sonic gave him a look, putting his fists on his hips. “We only defeated Eggman a few weeks ago. Don’t you think we have some time to relax before we have to start finding them again?” he asked.

Tails sighed, his tails beginning to spin as he lifted himself from the cockpit of his biplane, then flying down to the floor. “No, Sonic. The sooner we get the jump on finding them, the further ahead we’ll be when Eggman resurfaces.”

“Don’t we at least have time to make some breakfast before we start searching?” Sonic asked as he hopped down beside his friend, wrapping an arm around Tails’ shoulders and pulling him in close, grinning. “I can tell just by looking at’cha that you’re hungry.”

Tails laughed. “Okay, fine. But then right after we have to get to work.”

“You got it buddy!”

-

Sonic was taking a bite of his fourth pancake when his communicator went off. “Blue, you there?” Rouge’s voice came over the gadget on his wrist.

Sonic and Tails were both surprised to hear from her. She and Shadow had been busy with G.U.N. missions since the last defeat of Eggman. “Yeah, what’s up?” he replied, after finishing his bite. 

“It’s Dr. Eggman. Shadow and I were given a mission to investigate what we _thought_ was an abandoned base, but it turns out he’s been hiding out here. I'll send you our coordinates.”

“So you want me to come save your butts?” Sonic teased.

Shadow’s voice was the one to answer. “No. Rouge, we’re fine, we don’t— _gah!_ ”

“Shadow? _Shadow?_ ” Rouge asked quickly. 

“We better go help, Sonic,” Tails said, popping up from his seat, disregarding the pancakes he had made for himself and his friend. Sonic stood also, giving him a thumbs up and grin.

“Alright, let’s go!”

-

Eggman’s base was visibly well hidden, but Shadow and Rouge, along with the backup from G.U.N. they called for, were destroying robots and blasting holes in walls inside. Sonic and Tails could land the Tornado in a clearing nearby and still easily find the entrance because of all the ruckus. A large, thick steel door with a hole blown through it—most likely Shadow’s work—was easily spotted by the pair, not only because it was in the rock along the side of a small mountain, but because of the gunfire and yelling that came from within. 

“Sounds crazy in there. I bet neither one of them were expecting each other,” Sonic said as he took the lead, running into the base at a pace Tails couldn’t keep up with.

“Hey, wait up!” he called after his blue friend, but he was already left behind.

Within seconds, Sonic was in the process of spin-dashing countless robots, some seemingly decades old and others brand new. He wondered—as he smashed one robot to scraps—if this base was an old secret, where Eggman thought he would’ve been safe for a while. He wondered, too, where G.U.N. uncovered its location, and why it sent Rouge and Shadow to check the place out. But these were questions that could wait.

Once he cleared the way for the G.U.N. soldiers, Sonic sped off down the hallway, making what seemed like a hundred turns before busting down a door that led to the command room of the base, where Dr. Eggman was coordinating his defenses.

“Hey, Egg-head,” Sonic mocked, putting his fists on his hips again, watching the scowling man turn around in his Egg Mobile.

“Sonic,” the doctor huffed, slamming his fist on his armrest. “So, you’re the cause of this mess! I’m getting tired of you ruining all of my plans!” he said, the irritation obvious in his tone.

Sonic scoffed. “I wouldn’t ruin them if they weren’t so predictable.”

Dr. Eggman slammed his fist again, gritting his teeth. “My plans are all masterpieces!”

“Even though they all fail?” 

“Shut up!” he growled, shooting at the blue blur with his Egg Mobile, only for Sonic to jump to the side, out of the way.

“Hah! Missed—” Sonic started, before a hole suddenly opened in the ceiling, and a thick plastic container fell down around him, “—me. Hey! What gives!” he asked, putting his hands on the plastic, looking up at a thin tube that connected the trap to the ceiling.

“I’m done letting a blue idiot ruin my schemes,” Eggman said as he turned around, leaning over to press a button on the control console. A dull-blue energy suddenly came about the trap surrounding Sonic. “I am going to end you, once and for all,” he laughed.

“’Once and for all’?” Sonic dropped his hands, crossing them and laughing back at the doctor. “How many times have you said that, and yet here I am.”

Eggman looked over at him, glaring. “Oh no, Sonic. You don’t understand,” he said, his tone dropping considerably. Sonic might’ve actually been scared if he wasn’t familiar with how often Eggman blundered his own plans. “I will _kill_ you. And once you’re out of the way, and 6-feet underground, I can finally take over the world without any hiccups!” he said, as he hit another button. Suddenly, water began running down from the tube above him. Sonic’s ear twitched when water hit it, but he laughed anyways.

“Really? Water? You’re so original,” he said with a roll of his eyes, spin dashing the plastic, expecting it to break, but he blinked in confusion when he bounced off it, and landed back on his feet. “What the—?”

Dr. Eggman laughed loudly. “Good luck,” he grinned, before zooming off through a door in the back of the room, out of sight.

Sonic blinked again, panic setting in for only a second. “Okay, okay,” he breathed, spin dashing the tubing a few more times, frowning when he bounced off each time. “What is this?” he asked himself, before raising his wrist to his face. “Tails.” he called over the communicator.

“Sonic! Are you okay?” came his friend’s voice.

Sonic gave a sigh of relief. “Yeah, but Eggman sort of trapped me in the main control room,” he said, looking down at the water, rising just past his feet now. “I can’t get out, and it’s sorta filling with water.”

“What?! I’ll be right there!” Tails responded quickly.

Tails’ ‘be right there’, however, would take a while. He wasn’t fast like Sonic, even when he was flying with his namesakes. It took him a few minutes to get there, and by the time he did, the water was nearly up to Sonic’s hips.

“Sonic! What happened?” Tails asked, shocked by the sight as he flew over and dropped down beside the trap, eyes wide.

Sonic was shivering now, since the water was ice cold. None of it was leaking out from the bottom, sealed tight to the floor. That same blue energy still radiated from the plastic.

“I d—don’t know,” he said, teeth clattering, arms wrapped around himself.

“Okay, just hold on,” Tails said, pulling out the Miles Electric, recognizing something odd about the contraption that captured Sonic. He scanned it, and within a minute, his eyes widened. “Dr. Eggman must’ve learned how to use ambient Chaos energy also!” he said.

Sonic squeezed his eyes shut, clenching his jaw. “J—just get me o—out of here, bud—buddy.”

“I don’t know how!”

Sonic opened his eyes and looked at Tails, frowning in fear. “Wh—What do you mean you don’t know how?! You made that—that tracker using the ambient… whatever.”

“I haven’t looked into how to remove the energy. It works just the same as regular Chaos energy, but with the Chaos Emeralds you can just remove them from the device,” Tails said, watching as the water got up to Sonic’s lower chest. “Stand back,” he warned, waiting until Sonic scooted as far back in the water as he could, before raising his arm, using the built-in energy gun in his communicator to shoot the plastic. The energy beam only ricocheted and destroyed a panel on the wall. Tails flinched and then thought for a moment before raising his gloved finger. “The computer!” he said, running over to the control panel. “There has to be something that can stop the water!” he said, forcing hopefulness over his worry.

“H—Hurry, Tails,” Sonic said, moving his hands to the plastic, watching his friend, continuing to shiver.

After a minute of searching, Tails banged both his fists on the panel. “There’s nothing! This computer is so old that I don't know how to hack into it!” he said angrily, turning back to Sonic. The water was past his shoulders now and he wasn’t even listening, too cold and too scared to focus. Tails frowned and raised his wrist. “Shadow, Rouge; Sonic is in big trouble! I need help!”

“What is it?” Shadow’s voice responded, clearly stressed by his own problems. Either way, Tails was glad to hear he was okay and willing to help.

“He’s trapped. He’s going to drown! Come quickly!”

“Where are you?”

“The main control room.”

There was no response for a minute, and he watched Sonic trying to swim, now that the water was to his chin. But it was no use. Sonic had always sunk like a rock in water and couldn’t even figure out doggy-paddling.

“Shadow?!” Tails asked over the communicator but jumped when the dark hedgehog’s voice came from behind him.

“What happened?” Shadow asked, a little roughed up but with nothing other than a few bruises.

“Eggman.”

Shadow walked over to the trap. He and Sonic looked at each other, just as Sonic was trying to keep his head out of the water. “G—Get me out of here,” he stuttered, before he took one last gasp for air and was completely submerged by the water. Shadow clenched his fists, before spin dashing the plastic, bouncing off just as Sonic had on the other side of the transparent plastic. “What is this?” he asked calmly, eyeing the energy coming off the plastic.

“Chaos energy. He’s using ambient Chaos energy,” Tails said, with much more panic in his voice than in Shadow’s. 

“Then how do I break this?” he asked, looking over at the fox.

He shook his head. “I don’t know. You can’t,” he said, looking back at Sonic, as he began to bang his fists on the inside of the tube.

Shadow looked back at him as well, frowning. “Stay calm, you’ll use more of your energy if you’re panicking,” he said, before moving over to the control panel.

“I tried that already,” Tails said, looking at Shadow as he stopped and turned back around. The black and red hedgehog was about to say something, before a loud bubble from the tube interrupted him. Both looked at Sonic, as his body forced him to try and gasp for air. Sonic blinked as water flooded his lungs, his body trying to force him to breathe, only to be rewarded with more water. His grip along the plastic weakened and his vision blurred around the edges, pain wrecking his insides. All his face showed was fear.

“Fox!” Shadow barked, pulling Tails’ horrified attention away from his best friend drowning. “What the hell do I do?!” he yelled.

Tails was frozen, eyes wide. Scared. He didn’t know what to do. That smart brain of his was shutting off as he realized his oldest and closest friend was dying in front of him and there was nothing that could be done. By the time that Tails had even opened his mouth, Sonic had gone limp in Eggman’s special deathtrap, and sunk to the bottom of the plastic tank.

Shadow growled at Tails, pushing him aside and stepping up, quickly spin dashing the floor beneath the edge of the trap. The ground shattered beneath the force, and although the trap stayed in place, water flushed out through the hole in the ground, and along with it, Sonic. Shadow grabbed him by his arm and pulled him onto the flat, cold tiles of the room. He laid him down on his back, kneeled beside him, and leaned down, pressing an ear to Sonic’s chest as he listened.

“Sonic!” Tails gasped, finally, rushing over and kneeling on the other side of his friend. “Is he alive?! Is he okay?!”

Shadow sat up, shaking his head. “He’s not breathing,” he said. Tails was about to ask what they should do, but he blinked when Shadow leaned down and pressed his mouth to Sonic’s. He breathed hard into the blue hero’s mouth, one, two, three times. When nothing happened, Shadow pulled away, eyeing his rival. He only paused for a second, before he leaned down again, gripping Sonic’s shoulder and pressing his lips down harder, breathing longer and heavier into his lungs, the terror of the situation finally making its way into his head.


	2. Chapter 2

Sonic stirred and sighed, though a sharp pain accompanied the action and he winced awake. He shifted, then sat up, sweating through the sheets that had been covering him. He peered at the dark room, easily recognizing it as the one he often stayed in at Tails’ house. He closed his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to think of the last thing he could remember.

Shadow. Shadow trying to break that water-deathtrap he had been stuck in.

The cobalt hero put on his socks and shoes, then pulled on his gloves before opening the door, squinting at the sunlight peering into the hall from the far window. He had no idea how long he had been out or who actually got him out of that thing. He headed downstairs to look for his best friend, only to find Amy in the living room, watching the news. The pink hedgehog turned her head and gasped.

“Sonic!” she said, popping up from the couch and walking over to him, only to pull him into one of her smothering hugs. “I’m so glad you’re okay!”

Sonic gave a nervous laugh, which hurt his chest a little more than he cared to admit. He partially wrapped his arms around her. “Hey Amy,” he said, pulling away to look at her. “Do you know what happened?”

Amy pulled away also, smiling happily at him. “Tails said that Shadow got you out. He did CPR on you,” she explained.

“CPR?” he asked, sounding surprised, “I thought that only worked on humans.”

Amy shrugged. “None of us have ever drowned before, so I guess there wasn’t any use to do it before yesterday.”

“Yesterday?”

“Yeah. You’ve been sleeping for almost a whole day now,” she said.

Sonic looked surprised. He didn’t realize he’d been resting for so long. Sure, he liked his naps, but sleeping for 24-hours was completely unlike him. Granted, he’d never drowned like that before. “Where’s Tails?” he asked. “I want to talk to him.”

“His workshop,” Amy said, using her thumb to point to the front door, though she only paused, “Are you sure you aren’t hungry? I can make you some breakfast.”

Sonic waved the offer away. “No thanks. Thanks for visiting!” he said, unintentionally impersonal. He just wanted to figure out what went wrong, so in a flash he dashed through the door and then next door to Tails’ workshop.

“Hey, Tails,” Sonic said as he let himself into the building, blinking when he saw Knuckles, who looked over. “Oh, hey Knuckles.”

“Sonic,” said the Echidna, walking over to his long-time friend, putting a hand on his shoulder. “How are you feeling?”

Sonic gave him a reassuring smile, sensing the worry. “Never been better,” he said, giving a thumbs up. “Why are you here?”

“I asked him to come,” Tails said, looking up from his workbench, where he was already finishing up on a new gadget. “I thought he might know more about ambient Chaos energy.”

Knuckles dropped his hand only to shrug, making a disappointed face. “This is the first I’m hearing about it, though,” he told Sonic.

Sonic crossed his arms and sighed, though he ended up coughing, and turning away from the other two. “Sonic, are you sure you’re okay?” Tails asked anxiously, moving over to his friend, watching him wave away the question like he liked to do.

“Yeah. Yeah,” Sonic said, finally clearing his throat, turning back to them both. “So how did Shadow get me out?” he asked, not wanting to linger on the fact that he clearly was _not_ okay. He knew that he was probably getting sick, probably from being in cold water so long or getting it in his lungs, but it would pass sooner than it would take to go to a doctor.

“Shadow saved you?” Knuckles interrupted, frowning and sounding highly suspicious.

Sonic nodded, crossing his arms again, but Tails answered the original question. “He destroyed the floor underneath the trap. He had to do mouth-to-mouth.”

Sonic blinked and stuck out his tongue. “Ew! He kissed me?!” he asked, wiping his mouth, as if that would help.

“ _What?!_ ” Knuckles growled, clenching his fists.

Tails shook his head, disappointed by their immaturity. “He saved your life, Sonic. You should thank him.”

The hero gave a slower and softer sigh, learning from his earlier mistake and not wanting to find himself in another coughing fit. “I guess you’re right,” he agreed, though he looked over at the workbench Tails had previously been at. “What are you working on now?”

Tails beamed, happy he asked. “It’s kind of like the tracker that I built into the Tornado,” he said, walking over to pick up the device. “But it can collect and disperse ambient Chaos energy, so if you’re trapped again, it should allow you to break the trap.”

Sonic gave him a thumbs up and winked. “Great job, buddy. We’ll definitely be ready for Egg-head next time we find him.”

-

“Nice work, both of you,” the Commander said, setting down the second of two reports he was given, one from Rouge and one from Shadow. He stood up and addressed the bat, who was now wearing a sling. “You’re going to be on paid leave until your arm heals,” he said.

Rouge stood from her seat and smiled, nodding gratefully. “I’ll just be working at my club until I can start going on missions again. It’s about time I got a _break_ anyways,” she said sarcastically, referencing her broken arm, shooting Shadow an annoyed look. She mostly blamed him for both of them getting separated, which ultimately led to her facing too many robots for her to handle. Even if she knew she had a role in the fiasco, she’d deny it.

“Tch,” he said, having never sat down in the first place, arms crossed.

“Shadow,” the Commander said, looking down at him. “I’ll be calling E-123 Omega out of the field to be your partner for now.” Shadow nodded, so he continued. “It’ll be a couple of days. He’s retrieving a Chaos Emerald that you’ll be able to use. But until then, I want you to keep an eye on Sonic.”

Shadow dropped his arms and clenched his fists. “ _What?_ ”

The Commander nodded, opening up one of the reports on his desk, glancing at it. “Video surveillance of his encounter with Eggman tells us that the Doctor is going to try to kill him. We can’t let that happen.”

“If something happens to him, I can handle the Doctor on my own,” he growled, annoyed by the idea of spending more time than necessary around Sonic. “I—”

“We need to be prepared for the worst with Eggman. It may take both of you _and_ all seven Chaos Emeralds to take him down again.”

“But—”

“That’s an order, Shadow.”

Shadow bared his teeth and growled, turning around and walking out of the Commander’s office. Rouge rose an interested eyebrow at all of the drama, smiling at the leader of G.U.N. before following Shadow out. 

“You really don’t want to be around Blue, huh?” she asked him, and when he didn’t answer, she laughed lightly. “That’s surprising, after what happened yesterday.”

Shadow looked over at her, glaring, like he always was. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Rouge gave him a look. “Well, how come you only did mouth-to-mouth on him?” she asked. “I read the report,” she answered to the confused look she was given.

“He wasn’t breathing. What else was there to do?”

“Chest compressions? Like they trained us to do,” she said accusingly, giving him a grin.

Shadow looked at her before stopping in his tracks. “If you’re implying that I avoided compressions so that I could do mouth-to-mouth, I’ll break your other arm.”

Rouge blinked and rose a hand in surrender, grinning. “I’m just curious,” she said casually. “I’m not implying anything,” she said with a fake innocence to her voice.

Shadow scoffed and began to walk again. “His heart hadn’t stopped, so I started with rescue breaths,” he said flatly.

Rouge followed after him, laughing. “Alright, if you say so.” Her communicator went off, interrupting her friendly little interrogation. 

“Hey Rouge,” came Sonic’s voice. Shadow had to stop himself from groaning in contempt. 

Rouge laughed again, this time at the impeccable timing. “Hello, darling. How are you feeling after yesterday’s little catastrophe?”

“I’m fine,” he said. “Do you know where Shadow is? I want to thank him for getting me out of that trap.”

Rouge grinned over at the ebony hedgehog. “No, but he’s coming to my club this evening. Why don’t you thank him then?”

Shadow wanted to growl at her. “What the fuck are you doing?” he whispered.

“Okay, sounds great!” Sonic said, optimism in his voice.

“Why don’t you bring that hottie—ah, I mean hot-head, Knuckles? We’ll celebrate you not dying,” Rouge suggested.

Sonic laughed. “Okay. We’ll see you tonight,” he said, before hanging up.

“I am going to kill you,” Shadow grumbled, glowering at her.

Rouge laughed softly, throwing her good arm around his shoulders. She was the only one he’d allow to touch him in such a friendly manner. “Loosen up. You’re going to have to learn to be his friend, especially if you have to spend more time around him. A little alcohol in your systems might help,” she said.

“Whatever,” he huffed, crossing his arms. He was already getting a headache. 

-

It was late in the evening when Sonic and Knuckles arrived at Club Rouge. It took a lot of convincing from Sonic, but Knuckles had finally relaxed at the idea of drinking with Rouge and Shadow. He thought celebrating Sonic’s fast recovery was also a good idea, and it wasn’t like he was awarded downtime very often.

When they entered, the business wasn’t as crowded as it normally was, however it was still early compared to when it usually was booming. Rouge was serving Shadow a drink at the bar, so Sonic led Knuckles over.

“Hey, Faker. Surprised to see me?” He asked, taking a seat next to his rival, grinning over at him.

Shadow sighed, glancing at Rouge before looking at Sonic. “Yes,” he lied, looking away and taking a long sip of his beverage. 

“Aw, come on. Aren’t’cha excited to see me?” Sonic said, nudging his side.

“Touch me again and you’ll regret it,” Shadow snapped, looking back over at him and giving him a dark look.

“Woah. Alright,” he said, raising his hands, as if telling him he meant no harm.

“What happened to your arm?” Knuckles asked, as he sat next to Sonic, eyeing the bat.

“Oh, this?” she said, lifting her casted arm. “Just a tiny break. I’ll be in tip-top shape before you know it,” she said. “But I’d love it if you’d sign your name for me.”

Knuckles blushed and shook his head. “You’re batty.”

Sonic chuckled at that, always amused at how easily Rouge could get under his friend’s skin. “I just wanted to thank you for saving me,” he said to Shadow, who just grunted in response. “I mean it. It would’ve been a lot worse had you not shown up,” he said. “Your drinks are on me tonight.”

“I drink a lot,” he warned dryly.

“You two know drinks are on the house,” Rouge waved away the comments with her good hand. “Same for you, Knuckles.”

Knuckles blushed still, rubbing the back of his head. “Thanks.”

“Here you are, darling,” Rouge hummed as she slid Sonic a full glass.

Sonic picked it up, sniffing and cringing. “Chaos, what is this?” he asked.

She gave him an amused look. “It’s what he’s drinking,” she said, nodding at Shadow.

“And you actually like this?” he asked, looking at the darker hedgehog.

“Afraid you can’t keep up?” Shadow sneered. 

Sonic rose an eyebrow, grinning. “No way,” he said, before lifting the drink to his lips, downing it with two large gulps.

“Woah, buddy. You might want to slow down,” Knuckles said, moving a hand to Sonic’s shoulder.

“My metabolism’s fast, remember?” he said, as he set the glass down and looked at Rouge, who laughed and prepared him another. “And—” he started but was interrupted by Shadow finishing his own drink just as quickly. The agent smirked over at Sonic, fully aware he was challenging him to a drinking competition. He knew Rouge had been right earlier—he had to learn to get along with Sonic. He hoped he was less annoying with some alcohol in him.

“I didn’t know liquor was one of your weaknesses.”

Sonic grinned back at him. “It’s not, but it’ll be one of yours by the end of the night.”

“Don’t drink the club dry, boys,” Rouge said, as she gave them their second drinks, then made her and Knuckles each one of their own.

-

The club was practically as empty as it had been when they got there. Sonic wasn’t sure what time it was or how many drinks he had had, but what he did know was that Shadow was much better company than he had thought he was before.

“I’m the Ultimate Lifeform. I’m barely tipsy,” Shadow said confidently, grinning wickedly over at Sonic, who had already forgotten exactly what he asked.

“Yeah? Well that’s no fair. You need a handicap,” he said back, laughing to himself and taking a sip of his drink—now with a much smaller ratio of hard liquor to mix. 

“Like what?”

“I dunno. Taking ten shots before starting, or something.”

“ _Ten?_ You just want to see me drunk.”

“Maybe a little bit.”

The two hedgehogs watched as Rouge and Knuckles told the last patrons of the night to get home safely. Then they walked over to where the pair still sat at the bar. “If you two want to keep talking, you can go upstairs to my apartment,” Rouge suggested, putting a hand on her hip. “Knuckles here agreed to help me clean up.”

Sonic stood up quickly, giving a thumbs up with his free hand, his drink in the other. “Alright, let’s go,” he said, looking at Shadow, smiling widely.

Shadow eyed him, giving an amused huff, finishing his drink, and standing also, going to lead him to the back of the club, then through a door and up to Rouge’s apartment. It was neatly set up—a sleek, modern design with minimal artwork, though the pieces that were on the walls were no doubt very expensive. Sonic had never been inside before, but even so, he was watching Shadow more than anything.

“Hey,” he said, grabbing the attention of the dark hero. “I do mean it. Thanks for saving me,” he said, more serious now.

Shadow eyed him for a second, then nodded. “It’s not like I would let you die.”

Sonic smiled at that, looking away also. He was glad they were finally becoming friends. This night felt like a huge step forward. “Still, thank you,” he said, nudging his arm.

Shadow looked down at his arm before suddenly shooting Sonic a hard look. “Don’t you remember me telling you not to touch me?” he threatened.

Sonic backed off, giving a nervous grin. “Sorry.”

“’Sorry’ won’t cut it.”

Sonic blinked. “Huh?” he asked, giving himself no time to react when Shadow threw a fist, slamming it into his cheek. Sonic dropped his glass, which spilled its contents and shattered on the hardwood floor. He blinked and was forced to take a few steps back, rubbing his cheek. “Chaos, Shadow! I said I’m—” he tried, but Shadow was throwing another fist before he could finish his apology. This time, Sonic jumped back, into the wall, gritting his teeth. He no longer felt a pain in his chest, like he had earlier in the day, but he had no idea if it was the alcohol or that whatever was going on had already passed. “Stop!” Sonic demanded, moving out of the way when his rival attempted to kick him in the gut. “Fine,” Sonic growled, clenching his fists. “You want a fight? You got a fight.” He lunged forward, throwing his own fist forward, which Shadow easily dodged, however when his foot came around and slammed into his side, he didn’t move in time. The blow sent him into the wall near the television. Shadow gave a huff of amusement.

“You are just as weak as the last time we fought.”

Sonic growled in agitation, flying forward toward Shadow, who met him halfway. They fought each other, fists and feet occasionally making their mark. They landed on the floor after a minute, away from the glass. Shadow first pinned Sonic, then got flipped over. Sonic’s eye was bruising already, and his nose was bleeding, and Shadow grinned up at his handywork, getting his shoe under Sonic’s torso and sending him flying backwards.

When the blue blur landed on his side, he winced and began coughing—like he had done earlier at Tails’—and then attempted to get back on his feet. Shadow sat up and blinked at that. “Hedgehog,” he said, standing and walking over, only to be met with Sonic’s fist, which cracked on his jaw, knocking him down.

Sonic panted, kneeling and coughing as he watched his rival begin to laugh, sitting up and rubbing his jaw. There’d surely be a bruise there in the morning. “What are you laughing at, Faker?” he asked sharply.

Shadow looked over at him, canines gleaming in the dimly lit living room of Rouge’s apartment. “I just wanted to see if you could still fight me while you’re drunk.”

Sonic blinked. He normally would’ve been angry, but he just sat down beside him on the floor, catching his breath for a second before he began to laugh too. He definitely blamed the alcohol. The two of them laughed together, and when Sonic finally looked over at Shadow, his teeth caught his attention.

“Why are your teeth so much sharper than mine?” he asked, out of the blue, completely forgoing the fact they had just been kicking the shit out of each other. 

Shadow looked over at him, his laughter quieting quickly. “I don’t know,” he answered. “It’s just how I was designed.”

Sonic peered at him, thinking. He was quiet. 

“You’ve never bitten anyone, have you?” Shadow asked him, his aloofness already back in his expression—there was no evidence of the laughter that had been there moments ago. When Sonic shook his head, he spoke again, “You should. It feels great.”

Sonic laughed a little bit, wiping his upper lip, where blood had begun to dry. “I can’t image a situation where I’d do that.”

Shadow thought for a moment. “You could bite me.”

Sonic looked over at him. “Why would I do that? You’re my friend.”

“It’ll feel good, that’s why.”

Sonic thought for a moment, sighing and wincing just barely. Shadow either didn’t notice or didn’t want to say anything. “Okay. Gimme your arm,” he said, amused by the situation but now intrigued. Shadow held out his arm, watching as Sonic took it, leaned down, and nipped him. “Like that?” he asked, looking over at the other. It didn’t feel good—he didn’t really want to hurt him.

Shadow shook his head and pulled his arm away. “No, like this,” he said, leaning over suddenly, pressing his head close to Sonic’s neck. Sonic blinked rapidly, a blush immediately spreading across his cheeks. He unintentionally moved a gloved hand to Shadow’s chest fur, giving a surprised yelp when he bit down on his neck. It was painful—and drew blood—but Sonic didn’t push him away, instead waiting for Shadow to pull away and look at him, smirking.

Sonic looked at him, eyes a little wide. He paused, and then pushed him away a bit, only to move a hand to his shoulder, leaning over, and biting into his neck, breaking the soft flesh there with his teeth. His ears flicked when heard Shadow’s breath catch in his throat. Neither was bleeding horribly, and when Sonic pulled away to look at him, they were both blushing.

All they did was look at each other.

Suddenly, Sonic felt a lot warmer than he did just a second ago. He didn’t know why he went along with that, or why it felt so weird. He was confused and embarrassed, so he dropped his hand. “I’ve—I’ve gotta go,” he said, standing up quickly. Shadow didn’t have time to respond before Sonic was out the door, gone with a flash of blue.


	3. Chapter 3

“Tails. Tails!” Sonic whispered, grabbing the shoulders of the kit and shaking him. “Wake up.”

Tails groaned gently as he woke up, squinting at Sonic in the dark, wondering why he was in his room. “Sonic?” he asked, sitting up, glancing over at the clock—designed and built by himself, of course—on his bedside table. It read 4:35 a.m. “Do you have any idea what time it is?” he yawned.

“I know, I’m sorry, but something happened with Shadow.”

Tails rubbed his eye, then scratched behind his own ear. “Something bad?” he asked, worry coming into his tone as he began to fully gain consciousness. 

“I… don’t know.”

Tails reached over to turn on his lamp and then looked back at Sonic, his jaw dropping in shock at his appearance. “Wow, it looks bad,” he said, frowning slightly at his friend’s black eye. When he noticed the bite in his neck a second later, he properly frowned. “He bit you?”

Sonic sighed, making a face at the usual pain that came with that action. He really had to stop doing that. “Yeah, but I sorta let him,” he said, taking a seat on the bed beside Tails. 

“You let him?” he asked, sounding confused now. 

“And he let me bite him, too,” Sonic added as a small blush spread across his cheeks. “It felt weird. I don’t know how to explain it.”

Tails thought for a minute, watching Sonic look down at the floor. “Maybe you like him.”

“Of course I like him, he’s my friend,” he said, despite how often they fought each other—that was always just unofficial sparring though, and they pulled their punches.

Tails shook his head. “No, I mean maybe you have a crush on him.”

Sonic blinked in surprise, looking over at his best buddy. “I can’t have a crush on him. He’s a dude, and I like girls,” he reminded.

“Well maybe you like guys too,” he said, putting a finger on his chin in thought. “In fact, maybe you only like guys. That would make a lot of sense.”

“How?!” Sonic asked, but before Tails could answer, he added. “There’s no way I like dudes. That’s weird.”

Tails gave him a skeptical look. “How is that weird?”

“I don’t know. It just is.”

Tails crossed his arms. “Would it be weird if I liked guys?”

“No, of course not,” Sonic said. “Do you like guys?”

“I haven’t thought about it,” Tails said honestly. “But all I mean is that it won’t be weird to anyone who’s really your friend.”

Sonic looked away. “I guess you’re right, but I still don’t see how it makes sense.”

“Think about it, you’ve never wanted to date any of the girls who’ve liked you.”

“Yeah, but it’s just because they might hold me back from adventuring,” he said with a grin, sure of that reason.

“Exactly! Shadow likes being in all of the action just as much as you. _And_ he can actually keep up with you.”

Sonic pursed his lips. “I still don’t know if everything that happened tonight means I like him like that, and even if I do, there’s no way he likes me too.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that.” Sonic looked over at Tails, who just shrugged. “When have you ever known him to let anyone bite him? Or even just touch him?”

Sonic thought for a moment, blushing again at the reminder of what happened only minutes ago. “I guess that’s true, too,” he said, “but we had been drinking.”

“You don’t seem drunk. He probably isn’t either.”

Sonic sighed slowly, laying back on the bed, with his legs dangling off the side. “This is so confusing. I don’t want to think about it, especially if Eggman is really trying to kill me.”

Tails smiled and stood up. “I know,” he said. “I’m going to go get ice for your eye.”

“Thanks,” Sonic said, sitting up also. “Can I stay in here with you?” he asked, having always taken comfort in sharing a bed with Tails, not really wanting to be alone with his thoughts.

“Sure, buddy.”

“Thanks,” Sonic said again, this time with a tired smile.

-

When Sonic woke up, he was alone in Tails’ bed. He yawned and stretched, sitting up and glancing over at the clock. It was already eleven o’clock. His sleep schedule had been seriously messed up. He stood up and stretched again, pulling on his normal attire, then heading off to the bathroom. When he flicked on the light and closed the door, he paused to look at his reflection. The bruise on his face was already fading, and Shadow’s bite was practically halfway healed. He always did heal quickly, but he couldn’t help but be slightly disappointed.

Maybe Tails had been right, he thought. Maybe he did like Shadow. And maybe Shadow liked him too. 

After washing his face, Sonic headed downstairs, but stopped when he heard the black hedgehog’s voice.

“About time you woke up,” Shadow said, standing in the living room with his arms crossed, eyeing Sonic.

Sonic blinked over at him, rubbing the back of his neck, glancing only for a second at the bite mark he had left on his rival’s neck, as equally as healed as the one on himself. “Oh, hey, Shadow,” he said awkwardly, giving a nervous laugh. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m supposed to be keeping an eye on you for G.U.N.”

Sonic looked surprised and felt more than a little hurt. “Wait, so last night was—”

“Was just to watch you, yes.”

They looked at each other, Shadow’s gaze hard and unreadable, unmoving. Sonic had to be the one to look away. “Where’s Tails?” he asked, not even bothering to ask Shadow why exactly G.U.N. wanted him watched.

“His workshop.”

Sonic nodded and turned to head out the door, speeding over to his friend’s building, letting himself in per usual. “Hey,” he said shortly, frowning slightly as Tails looked up from the Tornado, his ears folding back at Sonic’s expression. “Why did you let Shadow in?”

“As if he had a choice in the matter,” Shadow said from behind him, having simply followed him, arms crossed once again.

Sonic looked back and shot him a glare, before looking back up at Tails. “I’m not really ready to deal with this,” he whispered.

Tails shrugged, glancing over at Shadow, then back at Sonic. “He told me his mission about you. I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

“I can hear you both,” Shadow said, matter-of-fact. 

Sonic groaned, turning away from the plane and heading for the door. “I’m going on a run,” he said, frowning at Shadow. “Just leave me alone. I’ll be back in a little while.” Shadow watched the hero leave, thinking a run was harmless enough, so he stayed, turning back to Tails. 

“So, what’s with the whole biting thing that happened last night?” Tails asked, looking down at Shadow.

Shadow dropped his arms and clenched his fists. “I’m not going to discuss that with you, fox,” he growled, causing the kit’s ears to flatten against his head. He crossed his arms again, looking over at the device still sitting on the workbench. “Tell me about this ambient Chaos energy.”

-

Sonic had been running for what felt like a while now, but he doubted he was more than ten miles out. He was angry that he had to come upon the sudden realization he liked guys, and of all people, Shadow. What a jerk to fall for. What great timing.

He stopped by a fallen tree in the forest, sighing and sitting down. At least taking big breaths didn’t hurt anymore. He put his head in his hands, his ears twitching as he thought to himself about what last night could’ve met. Maybe Shadow just got ahead of himself? Maybe Shadow was more drunk than he realized? After all, he did say that it was just for the mission. Sonic rubbed his neck—that spot where the other hedgehog had sunk his teeth into. It didn’t really hurt anymore. What hurt was the way Shadow looked at him like nothing had changed at all. Like last night hadn't exactly been a normal night between friends, if they could even call each other that.

A loud explosion pulled Sonic from his thoughts. He sat up straight and listened, and then stood when another boom ripped through the quiet forest. He took off in the direction it had come from, jumping over some wild bushes, off a couple of trees, landing in one to peer down.

Sonic’s eyes widened, as he watched Metal Sonic rip E-123 Omega into scraps.

“Stop!” he yelled, jumping down from the tree, sprinting toward them and attempting to spin dash Metal, only for the robot to swiftly sidestep out of the way. Sonic landed on his feet and turned, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth.

“Ah, if it isn’t my old pal, Sonic,” Eggman greeted, as he floated into view in the Egg Mobile, from the shadows of the trees. “You’re just on time.”

“Why are you destroying him?” Sonic demanded, looking up at his nemesis. Metal reached down, tearing a Chaos Emerald from the destroyed robot, throwing it up to Eggman. “A Chaos Emerald?” Sonic asked, eyes wide again.

“Well, you sure catch on quickly, don’t you?” Eggman laughed, grinning at his prize. “After all these years, I finally understand what I’ve been doing wrong,” he mused, looking over at Sonic. “Instead of using the Emeralds to power my machines, I should’ve been weaponizing the energy itself.”

Sonic frowned at him, ignoring the threatening grin. “You give that back or—” he started but was interrupted by Metal’s fist. He was thrown into a tree with such force that the tree cracked and fell over. Sonic fell to the forest floor, groaning, but didn’t have time to recover before Metal was kicking him across the face, slamming him into another tree, which snapped like a twig.

“He’ll kill you in minutes with his new upgrades,” Eggman laughed, watching as Metal hit Sonic with an uppercut, sending him sky-high, and then slamming him back into the ground, so powerful that Sonic dented the ground. “Each one of his blows gets clouded with Chaos energy just before they land,” the doctor laughed. “You’re no match for him anymore.”

Sonic groaned, shakily trying to stand up, gripping a nearby boulder to help support himself. “Don’t count on me giving up that easily,” he croaked, trying to straighten up, but Metal was merciless and determined to kill. He slammed his knee into Sonic’s chest, and then grabbed him from the air, pinning him to the ground.

Sonic grit his teeth, about to grab Metal’s arms, but just as he touched him, the android lit up with blue energy, and Sonic let out a bloodcurdling scream of pain. He scrambled to get away from him, but the grip on his shoulders was too tight, as the robot shocked him with Chaos energy. 

“ _Aahhhhhhhhh!_ ”

Metal flung Sonic back up into the air, flying upwards after him. This time, when he raised his fist, Chaos energy formed around it, making blade. He slammed it into the hero’s chest, piercing all the way through him, and Sonic let out another scream. Metal flung him to the ground, slamming him into the forest floor. He curled up, clutching his chest where he had been stabbed, his white glove instantly stained red with his blood.

Shadow came to a sliding stop at the scene, eyes widened in horror, before anger overwhelmed him. He leaped forward, Tails’ new device in hand so he could deactivate Metal’s new energy upgrades. He smashed the robot’s face with his foot, sending him flying, and was upon him in another second. The two began to fight. Metal only managed to hit him a few times, but Shadow easily dodged most of the attacks before gaining an advantage. He dropped to a knee to avoid a kick, and then punched upward, busting a hole through the center of Metal’s chest, who twitched with his last second of life before shutting down.

Eggman looked panicked for a moment, though he remembered Sonic’s current condition. “Thanks for the Emerald,” he laughed, before zipping away into the forest.

Shadow removed his fist from Metal’s chest, baring his teeth after Eggman, contemplating going after him, but a raspy breath from Sonic got his attention. He turned around, frowning at his lighter counterpart, skating over to him and kneeling quickly. “Sonic. Don’t—"

Sonic gave him a weak and shaky grin, blood at the corner of his mouth. “T—Take care of Tails for me, o—okay?” he gasped, squeezing his eyes shut. That second before he went limp felt like an eternity to Shadow. The hero’s hand fell from where he was trying to keep his chest together, more blood pouring from the wound.

Shadow just stared down at him.


	4. Chapter 4

Shadow rarely sat down. It wasn’t in his personality to be anything other than on edge, alert at all times. It was a design flaw, he thought, but then again, he wasn’t created to stop and smell the roses. He was made to battle nonstop and keep the world from total destruction.

But when he watched—what he thought was—Sonic’s last breath, he realized that certain roses were worth stopping for. 

-

Sonic stirred and instantly felt pain shock his system. He gritted his teeth, and rolled onto his back in the bed, eyes squeezed tight. “What—?” he started to ask to no one in particular, when Shadow’s voice interrupted him—which it seemed to be doing a lot in the past couple of days.

“About time,” the dark hedgehog huffed, sitting in a chair at his bedside. 

Sonic looked over, squinting in the dark. “Faker?” he asked, sounding confused. “Why are you in my—” he started to ask, but he took a quick glance around the room. “Where am I?” he asked. He tried to sit up, but he only winced, clutching his chest, groaning.

Shadow watched him. “You’re in my room.”

“What?” Sonic asked, looking over at him as he tried to sit up, but he felt weak, and the position put too much strain on the stitches across his chest. He groaned again, and suddenly Shadow stood, putting a firm hand on Sonic’s shoulder and pushing him back into a laying position.

“You need to rest.”

Sonic made a face and looked up at him. Now that he was closer, he could see his features. The deep furrows in his brows were still there, but he looked concerned. Maybe angry at him for trying to move in the first place, but concerned, nonetheless. It was almost startling to see such a look on Shadow’s expression.

Sonic nodded, settling down into the bed, watching his rival take a seat again—which was completely out of character, too. “Why am I here?”

“I tried to bring you to the fox’s home, but he panicked and made the situation worse.”

Sonic watched Shadow, and Shadow watched him. “I didn’t know you had your own place,” Sonic said quietly, looking around the room.

“Tell anyone and I’ll kill you,” Shadow said crossing his arms and leaning back in the chair.

Sonic couldn’t help but laugh at that. “So, I’m guessing it’s safer for me here, right?” he asked, looking back over.

Shadow frowned at him. He wouldn’t say it, but that was also part of the reason he had brought him here. “Get some rest, fool,” he grunted, standing, and walking to the door, to exit the room.

Sonic watched him with his eyes, laying his head back and looking up at the ceiling, shrouded in darkness again once the door was closed behind Shadow. He hated that he was being targeted by Eggman and Shadow seemed to be the one stuck doing clean-up. How long would he have to stay here? Would Tails be able to visit? Or any of his other friends? It was hard to focus on these questions with so much pain in his body. His chest ached like it was still open and fresh—it made it difficult to breathe right or relax. He turned his head and peered down at the stitches across his middle, sighing. Even with how quickly he healed, it would be days until he could even sit up.

-

“Why not?!” Sonic asked, slightly propped up on his elbow. 

“Because, it’s my fucking house,” Shadow growled down at him, arms crossed.

“That’s not a good reason!” Sonic huffed, annoyed that he wasn’t allowed to see his best friend.

“It doesn’t have to be a good reason.”

Sonic scowled at him, then tried to sit up on his own—it had been three days of mostly sleep, but also Shadow forcing him to eat and helping him to the bathroom, only occasionally gone to report to G.U.N. or whatever else it was that he did. It was embarrassing, and Sonic had had enough. “Listen, I’m glad for your help, but I want to see Tails. I’m _leaving,_ ” he said, sounding as annoyed as he felt.

Shadow scoffed at him. “Look at you, you can’t even sit up,” he said. Sonic blinked—it was the first time he was made fun of in the past three days. “You’re pathetic.”

Sonic frowned deeply at that. “Whatever,” he said, finally sitting up, having to take a break to clench his fists into the sheets, his vision blurry from the pain. “Why are you being such a jerk?”

“Tch.”

Sonic swallowed, and then tried to stand, but he winced, audible that time, and would have collapsed had Shadow not been standing in front of him. He grabbed ahold of his rival, wrapping his arms around his torso, squeezing his eyes shut as he buried his face into his chest fur. He was too stubborn to care if Shadow had beat him up the last time he touched him. He needed help—he really couldn’t stand on his own yet. 

Shadow blinked, arms still crossed, but only for a second before he moved his hands to Sonic’s hips, leaning down to guide him back to the bed, to sit. “Let go,” he told the hero.

“Chaos, it hurts,” Sonic said with a shake of his head, holding onto Shadow still. When Shadow tried to nudge him away, Sonic pulled away slightly, only enough to tug down the other hedgehog, pressing his lips to his and closing his eyes. Shadow blinked again.

When Sonic pulled away from the kiss and let go, he looked up at Shadow, moving a hand to the bed to keep himself upright. He grinned a tiny bit, but when Shadow clenched his fists at his sides, his smile turned into nervousness. “Heh— Sorry. You wouldn’t hit a guy who was half dead a few days ago, would you?” he asked, raising a hand in shrug, trying to dismiss his own actions.

Shadow bared his teeth down at Sonic, and just as the blue blur’s ears flattened in fear, he leaned down and pressed his lips to his again. This time, Sonic was the one blinking, before his brain got with the program, and he wrapped his arms around Shadow’s shoulders, leaning up into it. It hurt to stretch up, but he didn’t care, not this time. He’d been thinking about this for the past three days he’d spent in Shadow’s home—wondering what he tasted like, how he kissed. And how he kissed was much different from the handful of kisses he’d had in the past. Shadow’s tongue gently slid into his mouth, rolled in a way that made him dizzy.

Sonic had to pull away after a minute, panting a tiny bit, closing his eyes.

“Are you okay?” Shadow asked, hands on either side of Sonic, firm on the bed.

Sonic nodded, blushing brightly. “Yeah,” he sighed. “No one’s ever kissed me like that before.” Shadow pulled away, leaving Sonic’s arms empty. Sonic gave him a confused look. “Where are you going?” he asked.

Shadow folded his arms, looking mildly pleased. “To call Tails.”

“Is that my reward for kissing you?” Sonic huffed, annoyed by that idea.

“No,” he said, and left it at that, before leaving the room. Sonic watched him, before looking down, unable to help but smile to himself. 

-

“Sonic!” Tails beamed, running up to the bed where Sonic was propped up. Before he could get to it, Shadow grabbed the kit’s arm.

“Watch his chest,” he said firmly. 

Tails blinked back at him and nodded, before moving onto the bed, sitting beside Sonic, smiling happily. “You look really great,” he pointed out.

“Don’t I always?” Sonic said, reaching over to gently ruffle the fur atop Tails’ head.

Tails grinned and laughed. “How do you feel?” he asked.

“It hurts, not gonna lie,” Sonic sighed. “But Shadow did a great job stitching me up, don’t you think?” he added, looking over at his dark counterpart, giving a grin and a thumbs-up.

Shadow frowned at him.

“He really did,” Tails said in surprise, looking down at Sonic’s chest, tapping a finger to his chin in thought. “How did you learn to do this so well?” he asked, looking over at Shadow, who only looked at them, and then left the room.

“Don’t mind him, he’s always grumpy,” Sonic said, smiling still.

Tails nodded. “Are you sure you’re okay, though? I thought you were dead when I first saw you. There was so much blood, Sonic…”

Sonic gave him a sympathetic smile. “I know, but I am okay. It’s just gonna take some time to heal,” he said. “Plus, now you get to visit me.”

“That’s true,” he said, before glancing at the doorway. “So do you think you like him?” he whispered.

Sonic laughed a little bit, glancing also. “Uh, yeah. We kissed, not that long ago.”

“That great!” Tails said, all but a little too loud.

“ _Sh!_ ” the hedgehog whispered, giving his best friend an amused look, in response to the apologetic one he received. 

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he laughed. “He was really good at it. I just don’t know what it means.”

“Well, you should ask him.”

“He’s not exactly the talkative type, if you haven’t noticed.”

Tails shrugged. “Well, you have time to figure it out, especially if you decide to stay here while you’re getting better.”

Sonic hummed in thought. “Do you think I should?”

Tails nodded. “Yeah, Shadow is most qualified to keep you safe, too,” he said. “I’m helping G.U.N. rebuild Omega. It’ll take time to fix him, so I won’t be home much,” he paused, “But Amy is asking about you a lot.”

“That’s not surprising,” Sonic chuckled. “Tell her not to worry. Her and Knuckles.”

Tails nodded again. “Okay, I will,” he said, pausing. “I brought you some homemade chilidogs. You up for eating them?” he offered.

Sonic grinned, giving a wink and a thumbs-up. “You know I’ll never turn them down.”

-

“Those are disgusting. How do you stand eating them,” Shadow huffed, sitting back down in the chair at Sonic’s bedside, now that he had shown Tails out—and threatened him one last time to keep his home’s location a secret, just for good measure.

“Don’t knock ‘em ‘till you try ‘em, Faker,” Sonic said, in a much happier mood, now that he had eaten something that wasn’t a microwave meal. 

“Tch.”

Sonic grinned over at him, in no mood to do any resting. “You know, I haven’t even been in your living room, yet,” he pointed out. “I think I can do some walking, if you help me a little bit.”

“Don’t be stupid. You still need rest.”

“Aw, you really do care about me,” Sonic teased, grinning. Even if they did have feelings for each other, there was no way that would stop him from dragging the guy. 

Shadow groaned in irritation. “Fine,” he said, standing up, and moving over. He grabbed Sonic’s hands, helping him up onto his feet, eyeing him skeptically. “Does it hurt?”

Sonic grimaced but shook his head. “No. It’s not bad,” he lied, taking a deep breath. Shadow watched him intently, and then moved to his side, gently wrapping an arm around his waist. 

“Are you sure?”

Sonic nodded, blushing a little bit from all the contact. He draped his arm over Shadow’s shoulders, using him as support. “Yeah,” he said. “Come on.” They began to walk together, toward the door of the room, out into the hallway, and then into the living room. Unlike Tails’ house, Shadow’s was much smaller. One story, with a kitchenette, one living room, one bedroom, and one bathroom. He didn’t need much, after all. 

Shadow sat him down on the couch, standing in front of him and crossing his arms. “Happy?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Sonic said, looking around the room, over at the little kitchen, at the blank walls. There was nothing special about the space whatsoever. “It’s… nice.”

“I don’t use it much.”

“I can tell,” Sonic grinned, looking up at him, only to be met with yet another annoyed expression. He wondered if Shadow truly did like him, what with the constant displeasure that he seemed to elicit in him. He didn’t get a warning when Shadow leaned down and kissed him again. This time, however, Sonic didn’t hesitate to kiss him back, closing his eyes, and wrapping his arms around his shoulders once again. They parted for a breath, just as Shadow sat down beside him on the couch, before diving right back into the kiss. This time, Sonic licked back against the other hedgehog’s tongue, learning quickly what to do.

Shadow nudged him down, moving over Sonic as he laid back, his knees planted in the cushions of the sofa, on either side of one of Sonic’s thighs. He pulled away, just to press a kiss to his neck.

“Sh—Shadow,” Sonic said, closing his eyes, grabbing hold of one of the quills on his back, expertly, so not to get poked. 

“Hm?” he hummed into his neck.

“Do you like me?”

Shadow blinked and pulled away. “What?”

“Do you like me?” Sonic repeated, opening his eyes to look up at him.

Shadow looked peeved but stayed as he was. “Are you that much of a moron?” he asked in return.

Sonic huffed. “I think it’s a fair question.”

Shadow paused before leaning down to press a kiss to his lips, slower and slightly deeper than before, lasting only a few seconds before he pulled away and looked down at him. “Does that answer your idiotic question?”

Sonic’s heart was fluttering—he couldn’t help it, not with how good Shadow was at taking the breath right out of his lungs. “Y—Yeah.”

“Good,” he said, before returning to his former task of kissing Sonic’s neck.

“Shadow?” Shadow sighed, pulling away to look down at him again. “What—What are we doing, right now?”

“Making out.”

Sonic rolled his eyes. “I know, but I mean—” he started, blushing, having a hard time saying what he meant. 

“If you’re asking if I want to have sex with you, the answer is no.” Sonic blushed even more at his bluntness. 

“’No’ because…?”

“Because you’re hurt.”

Sonic nodded and looked away from those ruby eyes. “Thanks.”

“Hmf,” was all he got, before Shadow returned to wetly kissing his neck, on the spot where he had first bitten him.

Sonic shivered and closed his eyes. “This is fun,” he whispered.

“Stop talking.”


	5. Chapter 5

“I’m pretty sure your lips have some sort of magical healing powers.”

It had only been another three days, yet Sonic was feeling worlds better, and it all seemed to have started since their first kiss. Shadow had removed the stitches from his chest yesterday and now all that remained was a tender scar. 

“That is idiotic,” Shadow hummed into his neck—one of his favorite spots, Sonic had discovered. 

“It’s the only thing that makes sense,” Sonic laughed, turning them over on Shadow’s bed, grinning down at him. Shadow leaned up to capture his lips with his own, sliding his hand to his cheek. Sonic pulled away after a minute, giving a happy sigh, blushing. “Let’s go eat,” he said, sliding off of Shadow’s lap, standing up. 

Shadow sat up, eyeing him openly. “I’m not hungry.”

Sonic rolled his eyes, grabbing the darker hedgehog’s hand. “Come on,” he said, pulling him off the bed and leading him to the kitchen. Shadow didn’t mind, liking the view, anyways.

-

After breakfast, Sonic and Shadow sat down on the couch. Sonic had convinced his host to get a television—“It’s essential for all houses! _And_ we should watch the news to keep an eye out for anything that might be related to Egg-head,” he had said. In reality, he had asked Tails to bring over his gaming system, which Shadow had originally protested, until he learned that one of the games Tails had included the use of guns. Even if it had been Sonic’s real intention when he argued for a television in his home, he no longer cared. What he did care about was beating Sonic in every game they played together.

“Ha!” Shadow smirked just slightly, looking over at his brooding blue counterpart. “I win, again,” he clarified, having picked up on all the games quickly—not only the ones with guns, but the fighting ones as well. 

“Whatever,” Sonic grumbled, throwing down his controller, frustrated, so he crossed his arms.

Shadow was enjoying his time with Sonic, something he had formerly thought impossible. “You are a sore loser.”

“ _Whatever_.” he repeated, before turning and leaning in, to press a hard kiss to Shadow’s lips. Shadow blinked, still unused to so much contact, but he closed his eyes and leaned into it. He set down his controller, about to change their position, but Sonic beat him to the punch. The younger hedgehog moved onto his knees and then pushed Shadow down into the couch, nudging himself between his legs. Shadow allowed that, in fact spreading his legs a little bit and wrapping his arms around the back of Sonic’s neck.

They stayed like that for a while, making out slowly, deeply. Their tongues playfully fought for dominance, both too obstinate to let the other win. After a while, Shadow moved one hand down, cupping one side of Sonic’s ass. Sonic made a happy noise into his mouth, just barely letting his hips fall on top of Shadow’s, before the front door opened, and he shot up into a sitting position.

“Hey, Sonic!” Tails greeted, completely missing the flustered look on his best friend’s face, now used to just letting himself in. “Is Shadow here?” he asked with a whisper, holding a large textbook in his arms as he shut the door behind himself. 

“Yes,” the black hero answered, sitting up from under Sonic, looking over at Tails from over the back of the couch. He gave him a curious look, glancing at the book.

Tails blinked at Shadow’s sudden appearance, blushing when he realized what they were doing. “O—Oh—Sorry,” he said with a nervous laugh, staring at Shadow, since this was the first time he’d seen him blushing.

“What is that?” Shadow asked.

“Nothing!” Sonic answered quickly, popping up off the couch and racing over to Tails, standing in front of him, turning back to Shadow. “Nothing! Nothing to see here!” he said, waving his arms, to try to distract him, which of course didn’t work.

Shadow stood also, crossing his arms. “Let me see,” he said. 

“There’s nothing here!” Sonic said, turning to his friend, lowering his voice. “Leave with that,” he whispered hurriedly. Before a wide-eyed Tails could respond, Shadow was snatching the book from his arms, blinking at the title. 

“’Sex Education’?” he asked, opening the cover. 

Sonic turned back to him, crossing his arms. “It’s nothing,” he huffed. “Give that back.”

Shadow closed the cover, handing it over to him, snickering. “I knew you were inexperienced, but you could just ask me about these things,” he said. 

Sonic took the book, holding it to his chest, blushing wildly. “How did you know?” he asked, his ears lying flat, sheepish.

Shadow gave him a dumbfounded look. “You have never shown romantic interest in anyone before myself.”

“That is true,” Tails chimed in helpfully.

Sonic shot his friend a look, before looking back at Shadow. “Well it’s embarrassing to ask you.”

“Why?”

“It just is.”

“More embarrassing than becoming aroused every time we kiss?”

Sonic's and Tails' eyes widened, and Sonic looked away. “Chaos, Shadow!” he breathed, exasperated. “I do _not_.”

Shadow shrugged, his arms crossed once again. “You have never had sex—it is only natural.”

“Shads!” Sonic gasped.

“Maybe I should leave,” Tails mumbled, scratching his head, blushing. 

“Please do, I’d like to teach Sonic some ‘sex education’,” Shadow said, forward and with confidence. Sonic squirmed and blushed even harder. 

“Tails, didn’t you have something important to tell us?” he asked, turning to his buddy.

Tails blinked out and nodded, giving a nervous laugh. “Yeah, um—I think I’ve located another Chaos Emerald.” Shadow looked over at the kit, becoming more curious at the serious inquisition. 

“Great!” Sonic said, thankful for the distraction, setting the book down on the nearby table. “Let’s go get it!”

“It could be a trap, fool,” Shadow huffed, giving Sonic an annoyed look. “I’ll go.”

Sonic crossed his arms and looked over at him. “We’re better as a team, and I’m back to my full strength. We’re stronger together,” he said.

“I think Sonic's right,” Tails said, peeking over at Shadow. “Finding the Emerald using the ambient Chaos energy is actually more difficult than I thought it would be,” he explained. “Eggman probably hasn’t found it yet, so we should try to get it first.”

Shadow growled a little bit, shaking his head. “Fine,” he agreed, dropping his arms and walking past them both to the door.

Sonic walked after him, giving Tails a reassuring smile. “Race you to Tails’, Faker,” he hummed, moving next to Shadow and giving his side a nudge. Shadow looked over at him, eyeing his facial features for a moment before nodding, then taking off without warning in order to best his former rival.

Tails shut the door as he exited Shadow’s home, laughing at the look Sonic gave him. “I’ll meet you there,” he said.

Sonic gave him a thumbs-up and a wink. “See you soon, buddy,” he said, before taking off after Shadow. 

-

During the entire trip to the desert, finding the Chaos Emerald, and coming home, there had been a lot of tension between Shadow and Sonic—the _good_ type of tension. There had been no trap, so Tails was right, they were ahead of Eggman, even after the hiccup that Metal had caused. They were in good moods—things seemed to be working out—E-123 Omega was almost completely functional again, Tails was close to a breakthrough on how Eggman managed to incorporate ambient Chaos energy into Metal, and Sonic was as full of life as he normally was, despite almost being killed nearly a week earlier.

-

Shadow set the Emerald down on his dresser, shoving Sonic down on his bed, who grinned as his partner climbed over him. He moaned into Shadow’s mouth when he was kissed, shifting his legs apart when he slid between them. He was hyperaware of how Shadow had been right—every time they kissed for longer than five seconds, blood rushed between his legs. He couldn’t control it. Shadow already knew exactly how to get him squirming, even if making out was all they’d done so far. 

“S—Shads,” Sonic gasped, when they each parted to catch their breaths. 

“Hm?” he asked, moving his lips to that favorite spot of his—on Sonic’s neck.

Sonic angled his head a tiny bit, to give him as much room as he wanted. “W—What are we gonna do?” he asked, the tiniest bit of nervousness in his voice. 

“Anything you want,” he purred into his neck, dropping lower, to kiss the scar on Sonic’s chest.

He shivered. “I—I don’t really know how—what—” Sonic tried, utterly distracted, giving a breathy groan when Shadow licked the scar. “ _Chaos—_ ”

“I’ll start us off slow,” Shadow said, moving back up, to kiss Sonic properly, his tongue pushing its way into the other’s mouth. Sonic wrapped his arms around Shadow’s shoulders, making a soft noise when their hips brushed together. Shadow dropped his hips lower and then rolled them, and Sonic pulled away with a gasp.

“Shadow—” Sonic moaned.

Shadow just gave a hum, turning his head, to pull off one of his gloves with his teeth, before reaching between them, pressing two fingers to Sonic’s pouch. Sonic made a choked noise as his dick was encouraged out of its hiding place, and all he could do was bury his face into Shadow’s neck. He heard the other hedgehog grunt as he pulled his own dick out, lining them up on Sonic’s lower stomach.

When he settled his hips on top of Sonic’s again, Sonic whimpered, the pressure driving him insane. Prior to the start of their relationship—or whatever this was—Sonic rarely did this for himself. The last thing he had time to think about was pleasuring himself, but even compared to the few times he did, this was _far_ more intense.

Shadow slowly rocked his hips, and Sonic’s bucked in an involuntary response, groaning into the darker’s fur.

“Sonic,” Shadow growled. Sonic blinked, since that was the first time he heard his actual name said by Shadow. He pulled away to look up at him, only to be looked at in return. Shadow blinked at him, his cheeks rosy. He just rocked his hips again, and leaned down to kiss him, open-mouthed and passionate, getting into a steady rhythm with his thrusts. 

Sonic shivered again, sliding a hand down, to grab Shadow’s ass. Shadow sighed through his nose, pulling away to rest his forehead on Sonic’s, keeping one hand on the bed and then grabbing one of Sonic’s, lacing their fingers together as he ground his hips down. 

“ _Ah—_ Sh—Shadow, I—” Sonic tried, panting against his lips.

“Yeah,” Shadow agreed with a soft breath, squeezing his hand. Sonic gave a louder moan, Shadow’s voice really the final spur. He tensed up, gripping his hand tighter as his hips bucked, and he came on his own belly, getting his fur incredibly sticky. Shadow was right behind him, after a few more thrusts of his hips, growling as he came alongside Sonic, adding to the mess.

They panted, catching their breaths together. 

Shadow was the first to move. He leaned down and kissed Sonic’s lips, slower than just a few minutes ago, affectionate. He slid his weight over, sitting at Sonic’s hip as he kissed him, resting his hand on his chest, over that scar. Sonic wrapped his arms around Shadow’s shoulders again, sighing through his nose, licking groggily into his mouth. After a minute, Shadow pulled away.

“I’m going to go get a towel,” he said quietly. 

Sonic nodded, loosening his arms around him, closing his eyes when he felt Shadow’s weight lift from the bed. After a minute, the black hedgehog returned, to clean him up carefully. He discarded the towel to the floor before undressing Sonic—he pulled off his shoes and gloves, then his own. Then, he crawled into bed with him, pulling the covers over them both. Sonic turned and cuddled into Shadow’s side, nose pressed into his chest fur, with an arm draped over his middle.

Shadow closed his eyes and he turned into Sonic, hugging him closer. It was the first time he felt genuinely happy in a long, long time. 

It didn’t take long for both of them to drift off to sleep in each other’s arms. 

-

“Sonic. Shadow,” Espio’s voice suddenly ripped them both out of happy dreams.

Sonic blinked awake groggily, and Shadow sat up suddenly, clenching his fists, instantly awake.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he growled, standing up from the bed.

Espio’s hands flew up in a defensive position, eyeing Shadow. “I’m not here to fight. Calm down.”

“How the fuck did you find out where I live?” he growled.

Espio dropped his hands, putting one fist on his hip, looking at them both. “Amy hired the agency to follow Tails,” he said calmly. “It’s not relevant. I came here to tell you something important.”

“Amy hired you?” Sonic groaned, in a much unhappier tone than that he had a few hours ago. “Did you tell her about me and Shadow?”

Shadow glanced over at Sonic, frowning still at the invasion of privacy, but Espio shook his head. “No, just listen to me,” he said firmly.

“Get on with it,” Shadow snapped, crossing his arms and thinking of all the ways to destroy his house, now that so many people knew about its location.

“Eggman kidnapped Tails.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To quickly clarify: the character "introduced" in this chapter is not new to the fandom, but, in this story, this is his first appearance.

Shadow and Sonic both stared at Espio.

“You want to run that by me again?” Sonic asked slowly, voice suddenly hollow. 

Espio just nodded. “I went to his house to confront him about you staying with Shadow,” he explained, his tone calm but he was frowning—worried about the kit. He was too young to be involved in all of this, he thought. “His workshop was completely destroyed. There is no doubt that it was Eggman.”

Sonic went pale, speeding around the bed, nearly knocking Espio over in the process. “We need to find him. _Now_.”

Shadow frowned as he watched Sonic quickly pull on his shoes and gloves, wrapping his communicator around his wrist. “It’s probably a trap.”

“I don’t _care_ ,” Sonic breathed, looking at Shadow, panic in his voice. “ _Let’s go_.”

Shadow eyed him for a second before sighing, quickly pulling on his own gloves and his Air Shoes, then his communicator as well. “I’ll deal with you later, chameleon,” he threatened, looking over at Espio, who looked surprised. 

“You’re lucky Amy hired me. Chaos knows when you’d realize when Tails was gone, since you’re so busy screwing Sonic,” he huffed, crossing his arms.

“ _What?_ ” Shadow growled, baring his teeth.

Sonic could sense they were about to start fighting, but there was no time for that. He was really beginning to panic. If Eggman wanted to kill him so badly, he might be gunning for Tails, next. Just as Espio opened his mouth, Sonic raced out of the door, gone in a flash of blue. Shadow just growled at the ninja, before grabbing the Chaos Emerald from his dresser and then following the other hedgehog. 

When they got to Tails’ house and workshop a minute later, Sonic came to a skidding halt, eyes going wide. A hole was smashed through the side of the workshop. As he and Shadow walked inside, the damage was worse than simply one busted wall. All of Tails' devices on ambient Chaos energy were smashed to bits, as was his laptop, and even the Tornado.

Sonic dropped to his knees by Tails’ workbench, tears welling in his eyes as he looked down at freshly split blood staining the concrete floor. It wasn’t a lot, but the thought of the fox—his best friend, _just a kid_ —being hurt by Eggman broke his heart.

“We’ll find him, Sonic,” Shadow said, arms crossed, frowning as he thought about the situation, where Tails might’ve been taken, and the senseless pain he must be going through.

Before Sonic’s sob could break the momentary silence, Tails’ voice came over his communicator. “Sonic?” the kit asked, his voice shaking—with pain or fear, it wasn’t clear.

Sonic blinked, standing immediately, raising his arm and looking down at the gadget on his wrist. “Tails?! Where are you? Are you hurt?” he asked quickly, gaining his composure as swiftly as he had lost it. “Are you hurt?!”

“Sonic, don’t listen to him. Don’t turn yourself in. He’ll kill—” Tails tried to tell him hurriedly, but before he could finish, he yipped out in pain, and then struggled with someone. Tails let out another yip, and there was silence for a second.

“Ah, hello my dear friend, Sonic,” Eggman said casually, the grin on his face apparent from his tone. “Don’t worry, we’ll treat your foxy friend well.”

“’We’ll’?” Shadow asked, standing beside the blue hero, frowning down at the watch with his arms crossed.

“Shadow, didn’t expect to hear your friendly voice,” Eggman laughed. “Yes, ‘ _we'll’_.”

“Hello, Sonic. Shadow,” came an unfamiliar, darker, and slightly distorted voice.

“I don’t care who the hell you are,” Shadow growled immediately. “If you hurt the fox, I’ll kill you.”

The voice laughed, so crooked that it even made Shadow’s ears twitch. “It is far too late to avoid hurting the child.”

“Don’t! _Please!_ ” Tails cried out, fear engulfing his tone. 

“Oh, leave him alone,” Eggman said, displeased.

“This is low, even for you,” Sonic said, his voice shaking beyond his control. He’d never heard Tails like that—and it scared him to his very core. 

“I can promise he won’t be harmed any more, on one condition,” Eggman said, pausing to laugh at his own evil plan. “You _and_ Shadow will turn yourselves over to me.”

Sonic grit his teeth, and before Shadow could make a quip, he responded. “Fine. Send me your coordinates.” Shadow looked over at him in disbelief. 

Eggman laughed loudly. “Make it snappy,” he demanded.

“Or else the child and I will have some more _fun_ ,” the other dark voice said, laughing at a whimper the kit let out. 

The coordinates came in almost immediately after they hung up.

“We can’t turn ourselves in,” Shadow said firmly, looking between Sonic and his communicator, which displayed the location they were to go to.

Sonic shook his head, looking down at the display, also. “No. We’ll end Eggman, and whoever that is that’s hurting Tails. He’s gone too far this time,” he said. 

Shadow blinked at Sonic’s seriousness, eyeing him, since it was so unlike him to threaten to kill someone, even Eggman. “Alright, let’s go,” he said, putting a hand on Sonic’s shoulder. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared, and reappeared at the exact coordinates, with the use of the Chaos Emerald Shadow had hidden in his quills. 

As soon as they landed in the spot, a blue energy engulfed the space around them, leaving them trapped.

“Sonic!” Tails gasped, about to run over to them, trapped or not, but before he could, a floating creature, one sporting a silver mask and the owner of that dark voice on the communicator, swung his leg around, slamming it into Tails’ side and sending him flying into a far metal wall of Eggman’s base. 

“Hey! Watch it,” Eggman said, floating down in his Egg Mobile, grinning down at Sonic and Shadow. “Nice of you two to stop by,” he mocked, laughing. 

“I thought you said you wouldn’t hurt him if we came,” Sonic grit out, fists clenched at his sides defensively. Shadow crossed his arms, frowning and eyeing the Doctor, and then their new enemy. 

“Once I end your lives, it will no longer matter what we do to the child,” the masked one said, floating down to land in front of the energy field surrounding them. 

“Don’t hurt him,” Sonic growled, trying his best to be threatening.

The masked one looked over at him with his one visible, red eye. “Listen to you beg for your friend’s life,” he laughed. “Seeing him now causes you such pain,” he said, floating off the floor, just to fly over to the gap Tails' body had left in the wall, plucking the kit from the rubble as if he weighed nothing.

“ _Don’t_ ,” Shadow growled, as Sonic’s eyes widened, and he put his hands on the clear energy wall in front of him. The new enemy laughed again, flinging Tails to the floor in front of the trap, for them to see. Tails hit hard, and whimpered, curling his namesakes around himself, trying to protect himself. One of them had a notch in it, broken, disabling his flying ability. He had a gash in his cheek, as well, bleeding heavily, and he could only peek out from his tails, tears welling as he looked at Sonic and Shadow. 

“Infinite, that’s enough,” Eggman said then, frowning at his ally, and his newest creation that adorned him—a device on his chest that allowed him to use the ambient Chaos energy around them, absorbing it and dispersing it as he pleased.

Sonic’s ears twitched at that new name, and for the first time, true hatred filled his heart, clenching his fists against the energy trapping him and Shadow. “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?!” he yelled at the jackal. 

Infinite chuckled maliciously as he floated down to the ground, besides Tails. “Can’t you hear the fear in his voice, Doctor?” he asked, rhetorical, of course. “You, of all people, should take time to relish in it,” he said, swinging his leg again, slamming his foot into Tails’ chest, sending him flying across the room, only to zoom after him, and crash his fist down into his cheek, denting the floor with the kit’s body. 

“Don’t!” Sonic yelled, slamming his fists on the energy field. 

Infinite laughed again, grabbing the arm of the fox, who suddenly tried to scramble away. The masked jackal jerked his arm, and there was a loud crack of a bone snapping. Tails let out a cry of pain, his eyes going wet, unable to defend himself as he was slammed into the wall again, his breath torn from his lungs. He gasped, yelping when his neck and chest were slashed by vicious claws.

“Stop it!” Sonic screamed angrily, banging his fists for a third time. 

Rage shook Shadow. His jaw clenched tightly, and he took a knee, closing his eyes tightly. “Chaos…” he said, Sonic blinking and looking over, “…blast!” he growled. Suddenly, a red energy formed around the dark hedgehog before he blasted through the energy trapping him and Sonic. Sonic was thrown across the room, slamming into a wall with a grunt. Eggman was sent flying too, his Egg Mobile hitting a wall and then smashing into the ground.

“Gah!” Infinite growled, covering his face with his arms, letting go of the kit, who collapsed to the floor. Shadow warped through the space in front of him, reappearing by Infinite just as the dust from his Chaos attack settled. He swung his leg at the off-guard jackal, sending him flying toward Eggman, ramming him into the mobile. Infinite grunted, and by the time he stood up, Shadow and Tails were gone.

Sonic was pushing himself up off the floor, but before he could get to his feet, Infinite’s foot struck him under the chin, and Sonic crashed into the wall with another grunt. Infinite formed a blue energy with his hands, slamming the two orbs into Sonic, who let out a yell of pain as he was forced further into the wall. 

“I am going to end your miserable life,” Infinite snarled, punching Sonic under his chin, sending him flying into the air. He followed him up, kicking Sonic in the gut, into the wall, with such force it destroyed the metal in his wake. 

“Finish him!” Eggman coughed, getting his Egg Mobile back into the air, pressing multiple buttons on its console.

“With pleasure,” Infinite scowled, about to grab Sonic, but Shadow reappeared, alone. Infinite predicted this and moved just in time to dodge a punch from the dark hedgehog, who blinked at his speed, faltering. Predicting a move like that should have been impossible, so he was stunned for a second. Infinite collided his fist into his chest, knocking him back into the air. Before he could fall, Shadow disappeared, this time, grabbing Sonic from the wall, and warping them away.

-

Sonic would’ve collapsed if Shadow wasn’t holding him up.

“Where’s Tails?” he asked, his voice croaky, obviously in pain, but all he could think about was his friend—how that ‘Infinite’ guy had just ripped him apart. 

“He’s here,” Shadow said, helping Sonic to his room at Tails’ house, where he had brought them all. 

“No, take me to him,” Sonic mumbled, too tired and beat down to protest the help.

“I need to check you for—”

“I don’t care. Take me to him,” Sonic said, shaking his head, closing his eyes. Shadow nodded, turning back into the hall, walking with him over to Tails’ room, entering the open doorway and standing there with him. When Sonic opened his eyes, Knuckles looked over, frowning at Sonic’s state. Amy was stitching up Tails’ wounds, where Infinite had clawed him. Luckily, the two of them had been there when Shadow appeared with Tails.

The kit was unconscious, lying motionless on his bed. “Is he okay?” Sonic asked, frowning, walking toward the bed with Shadow.

Amy looked up, blinking at him. “He’ll be okay, I think,” she said quietly. “He needs to rest,” she added, looking down at the boy. She wanted to ask Sonic where he had been—what happened—but she knew the whole situation was horrible based on the wounds the three of them possessed. However, now wasn’t the time—she even understood that.

Sonic nodded. “You come get me if he wakes up,” he said, turning to the door, his arm still on Shadow’s shoulders, needing his help to get back to his room. When he laid back on his bed, he moved his hands to cover his face, his ears flattening.

“He broke some of your ribs,” Shadow huffed, sitting down on the bed beside Sonic, moving his hand over the blue hedgehog’s side. Even as gentle as the touch was, Sonic flinched from the pain.

“He probably broke all of Tails’,” Sonic sighed, dropping his hands and looking over at Shadow, eyes lidded. Shadow frowned, eyeing a small cut on Sonic’s chin. 

“Not all of them,” he said, standing up, wanting to go get a cloth to clean Sonic’s cuts. 

“Just stay with me, please,” Sonic said, reaching up to grab Shadow’s wrist.

Shadow looked down at him, frowning slightly. “I need to clean your—”

“Please, Shadow.”

Shadow paused, nodding. He was about to lay down with him but had to hesitate. “I’ll close the door.”

“No, I don’t care who sees,” Sonic said, shaking his head and giving his wrist a weak tug. Shadow looked down at him, examining his bruises, imagining the pain—both physical and mental—that the other hedgehog was going through. The situation hurt him, too, and he wasn’t completely sure why. He gave a soft hum of thought before laying down on the bed with Sonic, on his back. The younger hero scooted over slightly, then turned, wincing at the position, but he wanted to be close to Shadow, so he pushed through the pain. He slid an arm around Shadow’s torso, closing his eyes. “Are you hurt?”

“No,” Shadow said, turning his head, to look over at Sonic. He moved his arm around him. “Rest now, hedgehog.”

“Mhm,” Sonic said, already half asleep. Shadow watched his breathing even out.

-

Tails woke up to a lot of agony. Everything hurt—his head, his face, his chest, his lungs, his arm, his back, his tails. He slowly sat up, his ears twitching at Knuckles’ snoring. He looked over at the echidna, who was slouched in a chair at his bedside, having accidentally fallen asleep. He would’ve smiled in amusement, if that didn’t hurt so much to do. He slowly got out of bed, wobbling and having to stifle a whimper. He shuffled out of his room, across the hallway to Sonic’s. He paused in the doorway, looking at Sonic and Shadow sleeping together. That time, he did smile. He hadn’t wanted them to come for him. Granted, he was grateful for the rescue, but he was truly worried that that jackal was going to kill them both. He had witnessed his true strength, and it caused him a great deal of terror. 

“They’re together, aren’t they?” Amy suddenly asked from behind Tails.

Tails jumped, turning around, his ears flattening against his head as he gave a nod. “I’m sorry, Amy,” he said quietly, his voice hoarse from all the screaming he'd done at the hands of Infinite. "They’re really happy, though.”

Amy sighed, looking at the two hedgehogs together. “I suppose that’s all that matters,” she said, “I just wish Sonic would’ve told me he liked guys.”

“He didn’t even know,” Tails said, too groggy and pained to think better than to tell Amy. Amy sighed again and simply nodded. 

“You should try to get some more rest, Tails,” she said, giving him a soft and worried smile.

Tails nodded, his eyes feeling heavy, though it might’ve just been from his black eye. “Did Shadow stitch me?” he asked, padding back over to his room.

Amy followed him, shaking her head. “No, I did.”

“Oh, thank you,” he said, trying to give her a smile, but it came out looking much more solemn than he meant it to look.

“Of course, Tails,” she said sweetly, helping him with his covers as he climbed back into the bed. “We’ll get you a cast in the morning, okay?”

“Okay,” he said with a tiny yawn, settling back into his bed. “Goodnight, Amy.”

“Night,” she said, leaning down to press the gentlest kiss to his forehead, straightening up and heading out of the bedroom. 

Shadow listened to Amy pass by the hallway. He hadn’t been asleep, so he heard Tails reveal their secret. He didn’t care who knew, or what they thought, but he wondered if Sonic would feel the same.

He watched the blue hero’s ear twitch in his sleep and wondered, to himself, if he was having a nightmare.


	7. Chapter 7

The morning after Tails’ rescue, Shadow woke up alone in Sonic’s bed. It was the first time that that had happened, and Shadow couldn’t help but think the worse. He sat up with a flinch, getting off the bed and walking into the hallway, listening carefully. It was quiet enough that he could distinguish breathing from three different people in Tails’ room, so he walked over to the doorway, blinking.

Sonic was with Tails on his bed, curled around the younger boy, his head resting on his chest. Tails was asleep also, breathing shallowly, not quite right but nothing could be done at the moment. Knuckles was awake in the chair at the side of the bed, arms crossed, having been watching the pair, but then he glanced over at Shadow. 

“Sonic had a bad dream,” the echidna whispered, standing up, frowning deeply. “He cried for a while and then fell asleep on Tails,” he explained, moving over to the door. Shadow stepped aside, to let him into the hallway. Knuckles just looked at him, eyeing the hedgehog, who he once considered an enemy and had yet to consider a friend. “Do you sleep with Sonic a lot?” he asked.

Shadow looked back at him, frowning at his tone. “No,” he lied easily. 

“Good,” Knuckles huffed. “If anything funny is going on, I _will_ find out, and I will kick your butt,” he threatened quietly, looking at him for another second before moving past him, to leave. “Watch them.”

“I don’t take orders from you,” Shadow said after him, his voice lowered, but still managing to growl.

Knuckles stopped and looked back at him, baring his teeth. “Save it, Shadow. We can fight later, but they need their rest,” he said, still suspicious of him, but he had business to attend to. When Shadow didn’t respond, he just huffed and left the hallway, heading downstairs to leave.

Shadow watched him and then walked back into Tails’ room, crossing his arms as he looked at the pair of best friends.

-

Sonic stirred after a few more hours of sleep. He winced just slightly, brushing his gloved hand through Tail’s chest fur, frowning at the stitched-up gashes there. He felt incredibly guilty for what had happened to him.

“That hurts,” Tails whispered, nearly making Sonic jump. The kit opened an eye to peak over at his friend, giving him a groggy but authentically happy smile. 

“Sorry,” Sonic said, more serious than he normally was, sitting up and rubbing his face with both hands. “I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“You didn’t,” he said, remaining laid down. Now that he had had some rest, he was more aware of how much pain he really was in—unlike last night when he had glanced into Sonic’s room.

“He’s been awake for a little while, now,” Shadow said, sitting in the chair Knuckles had formerly been in.

Sonic blinked and looked over at the other hedgehog, sighing quietly. “Hey, Faker,” he said, trying to give him a smile.

“You shouldn’t do that. I know it hurts you,” Shadow said, eyeing him, but then he gave him a small, genuine smile, the type that only Sonic had earned—and Tails had witnessed.

Sonic blushed a little bit, but then turned his head and looked over at Tails. “How you feelin’, buddy?” he asked, examining his face, now that sunlight was peaking into the room from the window.

“Better than I look, probably,” he said with a grin.

Sonic sighed, eyeing the bruise around Tails’ eye, the butterfly stitches on his cheek, and the sutures that stretched to his chest from his neck. It was pretty obvious he had some severely broken ribs as well, and he couldn’t even lift his arm because it wasn’t casted yet. He may never fly right again, either, because of his broken tail. “I’m so sorry,” he said quietly. 

Tails gave him a soft look. “I know, you told me about a million times last night,” he said, reaching out with his good hand to grab Sonic’s. “It’s not your fault.”

“Yeah, but it kinda is.”

“It’s my fault,” Shadow interrupted, uncrossing his arms, just to stand from the chair and re-cross them. “You were well enough to be sent home, Sonic, and I chose to be selfish and let you remain at my home.”

Sonic blinked and looked over. “I chose to stay with you, Shads. It’s not—”

“It’s neither one of your faults,” Tails said firmly, moving to sit up, gritting his teeth in pain, cradling his arm close to his body. “It’s Eggman’s fault. And Infinite’s,” he reminded, looking between them both. “I need to heal, so I can start working on helping you figure out how to defeat them.”

“I can easily defeat them,” Shadow said, thinking that, albeit challenging, Infinite was someone he could handle. 

Tails shook his head. “No, Infinite was going easy on us,” he said, frowning as his ears flattened. “He’s—He’s a lot stronger than he let on. And cruel. They’re going to let us get better, just so he can try to kill us while we’re at our strongest.”

Sonic clenched his fist. “Infinite will regret it if he ever tries to touch you again,” he growled.

Tails blinked at his best friend, making a face, glancing at Shadow. “He’s spending too much time with you,” he said, partly joking and partly serious, Shadow just looked slightly amused.

Sonic sighed, relaxing a tiny bit. “Well, first thing’s first: you need to get better,” he said, smiling over at Tails, who nodded and gave him a thumbs up. “And I don’t care if you think that they’re going to wait until we’re better, I’m not leaving you here alone again,” he said, reaching over to gently ruffle the fur atop the fox’s head.

Tails blushed, whacking Sonic’s arm away. “C’mon. I’m not a little kid.”

“You always will be to me!” he said, grinning at him.

“Boys,” Amy suddenly interrupted from the doorway, smiling at the three of them. “I made breakfast,” she said, walking over, to hand Tails and Sonic plates stacked with food—eggs, bacon, pancakes, and hash browns—along with a fork each. “You need to stay nourished if you’re going to get better.”

“Wow, thanks, Amy,” Tails said, smiling and beginning to eat, having always had quite the appetite, just like Sonic.

“This looks great,” Sonic said, doing the same, stuffing his mouth, looking over at her. “Where’s Shadow’s?”

“Well, I can only carry two plates,” she said with a small laugh, looking over at the dark hero. “You want to come down with me, so you can get your plate, and we’ll bring up some orange juice for them?” Shadow looked over at her, finding that suspicious, granted what she found out last night. He nodded, however, and moved to follow her out.

They silently went down the stairs, and then went into the kitchen. Shadow stopped just after entering, watching Amy grab a plate she’d already made up for him, walk back over, and then hand it to him. “I—” she started, pausing to think about her words carefully. “You and Sonic are dating.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement. Even though he and Sonic had yet to define what they were, Shadow nodded, looking down at her, holding the plate. “Tails told me last night,” she said, frowning a little bit. 

“I know,” Shadow said, “I was awake,” he added when she gave him a surprised look.

Amy paused, before looking down at their shoes as she thought for a moment. “You’re not just using him, are you?”

“Of course not.”

“So you like him?” Shadow nodded, and she glanced at him. “And he likes you?” Shadow nodded again. This time, Amy nodded, looking away. Tears formed in her eyes and she took a deep breath. “Then you better not break his heart. You hear me, Shadow the Hedgehog? Don’t you dare, or I will bash you with my hammer,” she said, looking back at him, looking serious, even with wet eyes. 

Shadow looked at her calmly and nodded for a third time. “I won’t,” he said, not taking the threat too seriously—it was just Amy, after all—though he meant it when he said it.

“Good,” she said, suddenly moving closer, to wrap her arms around him. Shadow blinked, but allowed it, without hugging her back. It only lasted for a second, before she pulled away, composing herself. “You want orange juice?” she asked, moving to the refrigerator, to grab the carton.

“Yes,” he said. Amy nodded, taking out three glasses, pouring them all a serving. Shadow walked over to grab one of the glasses.

She grabbed the other two before smiling over at him. “You know, I think you two are good for each other.”

Shadow looked down at her. “How so?”

“Well,” she said, “you brought Tails back here.”

“I wasn’t going to leave him there.”

“That’s not what I mean,” she said, shaking her head. “You left that battle because you knew that Tails needed help right away. Then you got Sonic and stayed here with them,” she explained. “I don’t think the old you would have walked away from that fight. You probably would have gone back and tried to finish it.”

Shadow hummed in thought. “I suppose you’re right.”

Amy grinned. “I always am,” she said, moving to walk out of the kitchen. Shadow stayed there for a moment, thinking about what she said, before following her, back to Tails’ room.

“About time!” Sonic said, grinning when Amy rolled her eyes, bringing them their juice. “Thanks, Ames.”

“Thanks!” Tails said with a mouth full of pancake.

Amy clasped her hands together, looking down at the blue hedgehog. “Sonic, I know about you and Shadow,” she said, just as Shadow entered the room behind her.

Sonic blinked, his eyes going wide as he looked up at her. “You do?” he asked, shocked. “How?”

“Tails told me last night, because I saw you two sleeping together,” she said.

Tails’ eyes went wide also, as he remembered, ears flattening, looking over at Sonic. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “I was really out of it.”

Sonic blinked at him, turning to look back at Amy, about to open his mouth to say something, but she dropped a finger to his lips, to stop him, shaking her head. “I’m okay with it,” she said, moving her hand away, smiling. “I just want you to be happy. Plus, you two make a cute couple,” she said.

Sonic blushed, relaxing and smiling up at her. “Thanks, Amy,” he said, extremely relieved.

“Of course,” she said, leaning down, to hug him. Sonic set his orange juice down on the nightstand, just so he could wrap an arm around her in return, very happy she was okay with what was going on. “But you better put me in the wedding!” she said firmly once they pulled away, crossing her arms and cocking her hip. 

Sonic and Shadow both blushed. “We aren’t even officially dating yet,” Sonic reminded with a nervous laugh.

Amy blinked. “Oh? Shadow said you were,” she said, looking over at the dark hedgehog.

Sonic looked over, too. “You did?”

Shadow nodded. “Unless you would rather wait.”

“ _No_ ,” Sonic said a bit too quickly, so he blushed more, rubbing the back of his neck. “I mean… no,” he tried more coolly. “So, I guess we’re boyfriends then?”

“Yes,” Shadow said, giving him one of those sacred little smiles. Sonic just blushed again, looking down at his plate. 

“Aw!” Amy giggled, clapping a few times, smiling widely. “You guys are so adorable!” she practically squealed.

“Okay, okay," Sonic laughed, "but we’re not telling everyone yet,” he said, looking up at her, giving an amused smile. “Only you and Tails know, and, well, Espio.”

Amy gave a nervous laugh. “Right. Sorry about that,” she said, shrugging her arms. “I was just worried about you. But I promise your secret is safe with me!”

-

It had been a couple of days since Tails was rescued. Luckily, as the kit had predicted, there had been no attacks on them. Sonic still refused to leave the house, however he and Shadow had decided to clean up the workshop, now that his side no longer hurt. Amy had just brought them groceries, happy to help them out, so she was there to watch Tails.

“Look at this mess,” Sonic sighed, frowning sadly as they entered Tails’ workshop. He walked over to the Tornado, which he and Tails had built together many years ago. “This is going to take forever to fix.” Shadow just hummed, walking over to the workbench, bending down to collect up the broken pieces of the device that had been able to collect and disperse Chaos energy.

“Tails will have no trouble repairing his inventions,” Shadow said, straightening up and setting the scraps on the workbench, looking over at Sonic. “The Tornado, included.”

Sonic slid his hand along the wing of the plane. “I know, but still. It’s completely busted,” he said, sadness in his voice, looking back over at Shadow.

“Perhaps you can fix it with him,” Shadow suggested, beginning to pick up various parts of destroyed machinery. Sonic watched him, sighing again. 

“Maybe,” he said, pausing to walk over to his partner. “Shads,” he interrupted. Shadow blinked and straightened up, looking at him. “Thank you,” he said quietly, wrapping his arms around him to hug him tightly.

Shadow moved his arms around Sonic in return, looking at the far wall. “For what?” he asked.

“Saving Tails,” Sonic said quietly. “Staying here with us,” he added, pulling away just enough to look at him, giving a soft smile. “Taking care of me when Metal hurt me.”

Shadow blinked again, looking at him. “You’re welcome.”

Sonic leaned in and pecked his lips, pulling away quickly. “You mean a lot to me, you know that, Faker?” he asked, a little more playfully. Before Shadow could answer, he leaned in to kiss him properly, relaxing into him. Shadow closed his eyes, leaning into the embrace, sliding a hand up to cup Sonic’s cheek. Sonic deepened the kiss a tad, moving a hand to Shadow’s shoulder, walking him backwards until he gently hit the wall.

Shadow pulled away, looking a little surprised. “We don’t have to do this,” he reminded quietly. “You have a lot on your mind.”

Sonic shrugged, grinning at him. “I need a distraction,” he said. “And we can’t really think of a plan yet. We have to wait until Tails is well enough to start brainstorming.” Shadow gave a nod, leaning in a little bit as Sonic kissed him again. His hands wandered up Sonic’s chest, and then he draped his arms across the hero’s shoulders, letting him explore his mouth with his tongue. Sonic pulled away after a minute, just to move his lips to Shadow’s neck, kissing him wetly, and then giving him a little nip.

“Chaos,” Shadow growled, unable to help it, the biting really getting him warm. Sonic pressed him further into the wall, nudging their hips together, one hand on the wall and the other dropping to Shadow's hip. He nipped him again, eliciting a quiet groan. “You’re getting me hard,” he warned, a little breathy.

“That’s the plan,” Sonic hummed, pulling away to kiss him again, harder that time. Shadow made a soft noise of surprise when Sonic caressed his tail. He pulled away, sighing and pressing his face into the hedgehog’s shoulder.

“Do you know what you’re doing?”

“Not really,” Sonic chuckled, stroking his tail between two fingers. Shadow groaned quietly again, gripping one of Sonic’s back quills. He thought about guiding him, telling him what he wanted or what would feel good, but he enjoyed letting Sonic explore his instincts. He felt Sonic turn his head, so he pulled away, to watch him bite his glove, and pull it off with his teeth. Once it was off, Shadow just leaned in to kiss him again, even deeper, licking slowly into his mouth. 

He let out a proper moan when Sonic moved his hand around and pressed his fingers to his pouch, rubbing at the bulge there. “ _Fuck_ ,” Shadow growled when he broke the kiss, arching just a tiny bit into the touch. Sonic let out a shaky breath, pressing another kiss to Shadow’s neck. Shadow pulled off one of his own gloves behind Sonic’s back, and hastily dropped his hand between them. He pressed his own fingers against Sonic, and when both of their dicks were out, they both wrapped their hands around each other’s lengths.

“Shadow,” Sonic sighed, lifting his head slightly to tenderly bite the dark hedgehog’s ear. Shadow groaned, the noise sounding awfully close to a pained one, but before Sonic could react, he let out a satisfied curse. 

As they both began stroking, Sonic gasped. They each moved their hips in time with the strokes, slow to start, steadily speeding up. Shadow was more experienced—twisting his wrist, adding pressure just under the head of Sonic’s cock, using his thumb to swipe precome from the tip. Sonic copied him, and it wasn’t long until they were both panting against each other’s mouths.

“You’re—You’re getting good at this,” Shadow said, voice just a tad shaky. Sonic laughed quietly, just tilting his head to kiss him again. He was beginning to arch a little bit more, close, and within another minute, he was tensing up, biting down on Shadow’s shoulder as he came between them. Shadow followed suit a few strokes later. “ _Sonic_ ,” he growled out, panting heavily once they finished, nuzzling at the other’s ear. Sonic turned his head, just so he could catch Shadow’s lips with his own, kissing him lazily. When they pulled away, Sonic gave him a cocky little smile.

“How was that?” he asked, kissing his cheek.

“Perfect,” he said, which Sonic blushed in response to. He nudged his cheek and then kissed him, gentler and chaste. 

“We should probably _actually_ clean this place up,” Sonic laughed, looking at him, eyes very soft, less tension in his shoulders now. 

“We need to clean ourselves up, first,” Shadow said, glancing away for just a second, to look at a shelf. “The fox wouldn’t mind if we borrowed a rag, would he?” he asked, making a joke.

Sonic laughed. “Maybe we’ll just throw it away after,” he said, pulling away from Shadow, to walk over and grab a clean rag from a pile. He turned, blinking and pausing, to admire the dark hero leaning back against the wall. Shadow blinked back at him, blushing suddenly at the look he was given.

“Stop it,” he said, serious.

Sonic grinned. “Sorry,” he hummed, walking back over, to clean them both up, then discard the rag into the nearby trash bin. “Okay, let’s tidy this place up,” Sonic said, leaning in to peck his lips one last time for good measure, still blushing.

Shadow nodded, finally straightening up. “Let’s,” he said, with a more easygoing body language. 

-

Cleaning and organizing Tails’ workshop had taken up most of the previous day. Although Tails felt a bit better, he was having a hard time focusing on a plan to stop Eggman. Even with Sonic and Shadow’s help, he got frustrated. He was antsy, worried about the healing process of his tail, mostly, plus the concussion—that everyone was sure he had—gave him a killer headache. After a morning of finding the most recent backup of his research—which was most of it but, unfortunately, disorganized—and trying to make sense of it again, Tails had had a lunch that Amy prepared and went to rest in his room.

Sonic and Shadow had been playing video games, but easily got distracted with each other once Amy left to attend to her own affairs.

Shadow pushed Sonic down on his bed, climbing over him, pressing himself between the blue blur’s legs. He pressed his lips into Sonic’s, rolling his tongue, making him shiver underneath him. After a minute, he pulled away.

“Can I blow you?” he asked, moving his hand to his chest, to trace over the scar left there.

Sonic couldn’t stop the moan from escaping his mouth, nodding eagerly as he leaned up to kiss him again, his back arching a tiny bit, hips bucking up, as impatient as he had always been.

Shadow pulled away from the kiss, still smirking. “Slow down, hedgehog,” he said, moving his lips to Sonic’s neck, kissing that spot he liked so much. Sonic shivered again, sighing audibly.

“You’re so hot,” he mumbled, moving his hands to his shoulders, gripping Shadow tightly. 

Shadow hummed deeply at the compliment, pausing, before he sank his teeth into Sonic’s neck, just enough to draw a tiny amount of blood, but not really hurt him apart from that. Sonic cried out, both in pain and pleasure, but before anything could continue, Shadow was being yanked off of him. He sat up quickly, eyes going wide as he watched a fist connect with his boyfriend’s face. Shadow stumbled back, catching himself, before clenching his fists, growling at his attacker.

“I am going to _kill you!_ ” Knuckles snarled at Shadow, shaking with rage as he lunged forward.


	8. Chapter 8

Shadow jumped out of the way of Knuckles’ fist, since he was prepared for it this time—Sonic watched in shock from the bed.

“How dare you?!” Knuckles yelled, going after him again, throwing another punch.

Shadow moved out of the way, then shoved Knuckles backwards, just to get him away without really hurting him. “Jealous?” he scoffed—even though he was playing defense, he couldn’t help but taunt the echidna. 

Knuckles looked taken aback, and then clenched his fists harder, baring his teeth. “You’re a sick freak,” he scowled, throwing his fist again, then his foot, both of which Shadow dodged. 

“What about this makes me a ‘sick freak’?” Shadow asked, his tone containing some mockery, mostly because he believed Knuckles was a complete blockhead. 

“Because you forced yourself on Sonic!” Knuckles growled. Shadow and Sonic both blinked, but before Sonic could think of a response to the accusation against his boyfriend, something snapped in Shadow. The black hedgehog disappeared into thin air with the blink of an eye, using the nearby Chaos Emerald. “You come back here, you bastard!” Knuckles yelled, raising a fist and looking around. “Coward!”

“Knuckles, he—” Sonic started, moving to get up off the bed, but just as he got to his feet, Shadow reappeared, roundhouse kicking Knuckles in the back.

“Guh!” the echidna grunted as he crashed into the open door, which was crushed by his weight. Before he could get up, Shadow walked over and slammed his fist into his face.

“I would _never_ do that!” he roared down to him, and Sonic flinched at the sound of Shadow’s fist connecting to Knuckles’ face again. 

“Shadow!” Sonic yelled, moving over and grabbing Shadow’s arm as he raised it to hit Knuckles again. Shadow looked over at him, teeth still bared, a tiny bit of the blue hero’s blood still staining his canines. Sonic might’ve been scared a few weeks ago, but now he saw Shadow in completely different light. “Stop, okay? He doesn’t know, you can’t be angry at him,” he said.

“Wh—What don’t I know?” Knuckles grit out, his cheek throbbing, head spinning, but he still managed to grab the wall and stand up, looking at them both.

Sonic let go of Shadow’s arm, and Shadow dropped his hand, though it remained clenched into a fist. “We’re dating, Knux,” he sighed, grabbing Shadow’s hand, to display their relationship. Even as angry as Shadow was, he held Sonic’s hand in return, still glaring at Knuckles. 

Knuckles blinked at them both, frowning. “Then why did he bite you? He trying to mark his territory or something?” he scoffed, glaring back at the older hedgehog. 

“No,” Sonic sighed again, blushing unintentionally. “We just like doing that sometimes.”

“But you’re _bleeding_.” Sonic blushed harder, looking away. Knuckles blinked again. “Oh,” he said, understanding then, eyeing them both. “I feel like an idiot,” he mumbled, looking down.

“You are one,” Shadow said, letting go of Sonic’s hand finally, so he could cross his arms. Knuckles shot him a hateful look.

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” Knuckles asked, looking back to Sonic, who scratched his head.

“I wasn’t sure how you’d react,” he said, giving an apologetic smile. He knew Knuckles was extremely protective of all of his friends, but if he could go back, he would’ve told him, at least to avoid Shadow kicking the crap out him now.

There was a silence that fell over the three of them, but Shadow was the first to talk. “Why the hell do you think I’d force myself onto Sonic?” he asked the echidna, eyeing him, still feeling defensive.

Knuckles frowned, looking down at the broken door on the floor. “It’s not exactly like you’ve given off a vibe that you like him,” he said. “And you’ve tried to kill him in the past.”

“It was under false pretenses, fool,” Shadow snapped, his anger rising again. “He and I became allies once I had uncovered my past.”

“I know, I know,” Knuckles grumbled, moving a hand to his head, glaring over at him. “But it doesn’t mean I trust you around him.”

Shadow growled. “I don’t care.”

“Knux,” Sonic interjected, frowning at them both, moving between them, to look at his long-time friend. “Why don’t you go downstairs and get some ice for your cheek? I’ll be down in a minute,” he said. Knuckles sighed and nodded, eyeing Shadow one last time before exiting the bedroom.

Shadow watched him leave, and then looked at Sonic, frowning, still very tense. “I would never do that to you,” he said clearly.

Sonic turned to him and gave him a small smile, moving over. “I know.” He laid his hands flat on Shadow’s chest once he uncrossed his arms, leaning in to kiss him, smiling into it. Shadow’s immediate response was to relax, sighing through his nose as he slid his hands to Sonic’s waist. Sonic pulled away after a minute, his cheeks flushed. “I trust you, Shads,” he said, eyes softening. “All that other stuff is in the past. You’ve taken care of me. And taken care of Tails. It’s never once crossed my mind that you might hurt me, okay?”

Shadow nodded, even more tension leaving his form. He moved a hand up and cupped Sonic’s cheek. “Thank you,” he said quietly, before dipping his head down slightly in order to kiss him tenderly.

-

After Sonic had gone downstairs to check on Knuckles and convinced him that he and Shadow were in a _voluntary_ relationship, the guardian left. Sonic turned to head back upstairs, but stopped when he saw Shadow coming down them, giving him a smile. “Knux won’t give you any more problems,” he said, watching his partner cross his arms. 

“We need to close the door in the future,” Shadow huffed, still annoyed that they had been interrupted.

“Yeah,” Sonic said, sauntering over to him, and then sliding his arms around the back if his neck. “And lock it.”

They had grown incredibly antsy in the past couple of days. Though they cleaned the warehouse, there wasn’t much else to do. Tails wasn’t able to help think of a plan against Eggman and Infinite just yet, and E-123 Omega—now that he was operational again—was the one searching for Chaos Emeralds when G.U.N. detected them. They still wanted Shadow keeping an eye on Sonic, and he refused to leave Tails home alone. Neither one of them minded the time they got to spend together, but Sonic wasn’t even ready to leave Shadow there with Tails so he could go on a run. Since they could only do so much, they were having a hard time keeping their hands off one another.

Shadow looked at him in surprise, then smirked a little bit. “You’re still in the mood?”

“Yeah,” Sonic said again as he blushed, leaning in to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “Seeing you fight was hot, even if it was against Knuckles.” Shadow hummed, turning his head to kiss him properly, wrapping his arms around Sonic’s waist. After a minute of fighting for dominance with their tongues, Shadow nudged his lighter-colored counterpart back into the wall. He pushed his hips against the other’s, and Sonic had to break the kiss to give a shuddery gasp.

Shadow pressed his lips to Sonic’s cheek. “Patience,” he said, when he felt him squirming. “I still plan to suck you off.”

“ _Chaos_ ,” Sonic mumbled, moaning quietly when Shadow grinded his hips forward. Shadow dropped his head to the side, to gently lick at the fresh bitemark on Sonic’s neck. “Should we go upstairs?” he asked, burying his face into Shadow’s shoulder.

“No,” Shadow said, sliding a hand down, to grab Sonic’s ass, making the blue hedgehog jump in surprise. 

“Wh—What? Why not?”

“Because I said so.”

Sonic flushed even harder at Shadow’s tone, his breath hitching each time their hips rubbed together. After a minute, Shadow discarded one of his gloves to the floor, and reached between them.

“ _Ah!_ " Sonic moaned as Shadow urged both of their dicks out, pressing Sonic even further into the wall. He used their bellies to create friction and had Sonic panting within a couple minutes.

“Close?” Shadow asked, a little breathless himself. Sonic nodded and gave an incoherent response, wrapping his legs around Shadow’s waist. Shadow blinked and then let out a deeper growl, moving his hand between them again, wrapping his fingers loosely around them both. 

“Sh—Shadow, I—,” Sonic tried, biting his shoulder, harder than he had the previous day, drawing the tiniest bit of blood. Shadow was the first one to tense, this time, letting out a feral groan as he came between them both. Sonic was gasping just a second later as he came also, his dick jerking through it. Shadow sighed and tried to kiss him, but Sonic just turned his head, still needing to catch his breath, grinning lopsidedly.

“You good?” Shadow asked, pulling his upper body away just slightly, to look at him.

Sonic nodded lazily, slouching against the wall. “Yeah, so good,” he hummed, looking up at the dark hedgehog. “What happened to ‘sucking me off’?” he asked, amusement in his voice.

Shadow gave him a fond look. “We’ll save it for tonight.”

“Okay,” he mumbled, leaning up to kiss him, letting Shadow lick into his mouth slowly, having yet to unwrap himself from him. 

“Shadow, darling,” Rouge’s voice suddenly tore them out of their kiss, coming from Shadow’s communicator. Shadow groaned, but slid his hand up the wall, looking at the device.

“What, Rouge?” he asked. They had vaguely filled her in on what had happened during the incident with Infinite, so she was caught up to speed—except knowing about Sonic and Shadow’s relationship.

“Well nice to hear from you, too,” she sighed, though she knew what to expect after being friends with Shadow for so long. “I’m not running the club tonight, so I can come visit you, Blue, and the fox. How does a whiskey sound?”

Sonic made a face, about to groan, but Shadow gently slid his free hand over his mouth, which Sonic grinned behind. “Sounds fine,” he said. “See you then,” he said quickly, before hanging up.

“What a good friend,” Sonic said sarcastically, once Shadow moved his hand.

“Tch,” Shadow huffed, before just leaning in to kiss him again. Sonic kissed him back just to break it moment later.

“Sorry for… finishing so quickly,” he said with some shame, after a quiet moment, pressing his face into Shadow’s neck.

Shadow blinked. “You’ll hear no complaints from me, hedgehog,” he said, some playfulness to his tone. He nudged Sonic away, just so he could kiss his cheek, making him blush even more. “Let’s clean up, before our come dries this way.”

Sonic nodded, finally unwrapping his legs from around the other hero. He watched Shadow bend down to grab his glove, then smiled when he grabbed his hand, to lead him upstairs to the bathroom.

“We could shower together,” Shadow suggested as he closed the door behind them both, locking it. 

Sonic looked at him in surprise. “Shower?” he asked, glancing at the glass door, behind that of which the shower was. “I don’t really like those.” He had never been a fan, but after the incident with Eggman, his uneasiness of it had grown into a phobia. What if the drain stopped working and the door got stuck? It would be exactly like being trapped in that tube again, give or take some Chaos energy. 

“I know,” Shadow hummed. “But I’ll make the experience much more relaxing.”

Sonic blushed at his tone but shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said, still worried. “The only time I’ve ever really bothered to shower is after I’ve found myself in a garbage dump.” Rather than responding verbally, Shadow sighed and leaned in to kiss him, deep and slow and doing that thing with his tongue that made Sonic’s heartrate rise. When he pulled away, Sonic’s stomach had butterflies in it. “Wow. Okay. You make a good point,” he hummed, leaning in to kiss him again while they undressed each other—though they left behind the gold rings on Shadow’s wrists, as usual. When they entered the shower, and Shadow shut the door behind them, Sonic pulled away, glancing at the glass.

“I’m here, hedgehog,” Shadow said, watching him. “Nothing will happen to us in here.”

Sonic nodded, though he still frowned a little bit. When Shadow reached over to turn on the water, he nearly jumped out of his skin. “Jeez! Warn a guy,” he breathed, to which Shadow snickered at in response. When he began to clean him, Sonic relaxed. After a minute, Shadow turned him, to clean and massage his back. Sonic nearly groaned when Shadow cleaned under his quills, shivering, since no one had ever touched him there before.

“Hedgehog,” Shadow said, to get his attention. 

“Hm?”

“Have you thought about having anal sex with me?”

Sonic blinked a few times, moving a hand to cover half of his face. “Shads, don’t say it like that,” he groaned in disgust. 

“How should I say it then?”

“I don’t know! Not like that,” he huffed.

Shadow paused. “Have you thought about it?” he asked again, when Sonic didn’t answer right away.

Sonic blushed and gave a tiny nod, turning to look at him. “Y—Yeah, but I don’t know how—I mean, I don’t know which way I’d—” he tried, trailing off, too embarrassed to voice his thoughts on the subject. “Have you thought about it?” he asked.

“Of course.”

“Well which way do you…?” Sonic asked, biting his lip.

“Both,” Shadow hummed, sliding a hand down to rest on Sonic’s hip. “But there is no pressure.”

Sonic nodded, sliding his hands into Shadow’s wet chest fur. “I—I don’t really know how it all works,” he reminded, blushing deeply, looking down at where his hands were.

“I know,” Shadow said. “I want to show you, when or if you’re ready.” Sonic nodded again, leaning in this time to kiss him, chaste, pulling away and dropping his hand to Shadow’s shoulder, swiping over the bite mark there. Shadow watched him, sensing his shyness. “Sonic,” he said, “there is no pressure,” he repeated, leaning down to press a kiss to his muzzle. 

Sonic blushed, wrapping his arms around Shadow’s neck. “Thanks,” he said quietly, pausing only for a second, “I love you.”

Shadow blinked at that, then smiled, in a way he hadn’t for over fifty years. Sonic was awestruck. “I love you, too,” he said, kissing him again, wrapping his arms around his waist and squeezing him in close. 

-

Later that day, in the evening, Sonic, Shadow, and Tails were sitting on the couch watching television. Tails was in a much better mood, even if his head still throbbed a little bit. In the middle of an episode, there was a knock at their front door. 

“I got it,” Sonic said, bouncing up from the couch, from between Tails and Shadow, zipping over to the door and quickly opening it up.

“Hey, Blue,” Rouge greeted, raising an eyebrow at the new scar in his chest. “Wow, that’s awfully manly for you,” she teased as she entered the house, grinning a tiny bit. 

“Rouge!” Tails said excitedly, slowly standing up from the couch, wincing, though he went over and hugged her.

Rouge blinked, frowning just a tiny bit at the way he had winced, though she moved her arms around him, no longer wearing a sling but just a cast. “Be careful, kid,” she warned, pulling away to look down at him with a fond smile. “Look at that, we might as well be twins,” she said, holding up her cast. 

Tails laughed a little bit, which also hurt, but he had gotten used to that pain—after all, Sonic was his best friend. “You didn’t have anyone sign yours?” he asked in surprise. 

“Yeah,” she hummed, shrugging. “It already stands out like a sore thumb. I don’t need any more of a reason for my style to be cramped.”

Shadow stood, crossing his arms. “Hello, Rouge,” he said plainly, as he greeted almost everyone. 

“Hi, honey. Look what I brought,” she purred, pulling out a whiskey bottle from her purse, smirking a little bit. “You do have glasses, right?” she asked, looking and Tails, who nodded.

“In the kitchen, I’ll get them,” he said, about to walk off, but Sonic stopped him.

“Hey, buddy. You should just sit down. We don’t need you reaching up and tearing your stitches.”

Tails blinked, giving a nervous laugh. “Oh, right,” he said, having almost forgotten. He padded back over to the couch, sitting down carefully, giving Shadow a small, reassuring smile, since the hedgehog was watching him.

“I’ll grab them,” Sonic said, dashing off to the kitchen, only to return a second later with three glasses, one with ice, since he knew that how Rouge liked her drink.

“Rouge, we need to talk to you about something,” Shadow said, eyeing Sonic, walking around the couch, to the table in the living room. 

Rouge looked surprised, walking over, just as the three of them took their seats. “Sounds serious. What is it?” she asked, opening up the bottle, to pour them all drinks. 

“Shads and I have been dating,” Sonic blurted, getting a little nervous, since he knew Rouge would be angry at Shadow for not telling her right away.

Shadow gave him an annoyed look. “Not for long,” he clarified.

Rouge looked between them, before busting out in laughter, taking a sip of her drink after she was done falling about, shaking her head. “Tah! You two aren’t very good at hiding it, because I already knew.”

Sonic blinked. “Huh?”

Rouge shook her head in amusement. “Come on,” she said, waving their dramatics away. “I saw the bite mark on Shadow’s neck the day after you boys came to my club. And you,” she said, looking at Shadow with a grin, “have been spending too much time with Blue here.”

“Tch,” he said. “I was assigned to watch him,” he reminded.

“Yeah, but not be at his side every waking moment,” she laughed. “I have access to your reports, you know. Although it’s sad they don’t include all the sex you must be having.”

“Hey!” Sonic said, blushing, glancing over at Tails, who was luckily staring at the television screen, seemingly off in his own head.

“Whoopsie,” Rouge laughed. 

Sonic sighed, picking up his glass and finishing all of its contents with one gulp. “So you’re not mad?” he asked, once he set it down, watching Rouge pour more. 

“No, of course not,” she said, pouring Shadow more as well, since he copied Sonic. “You make a good match. I’m happy you ended up together,” she said, smiling as she leaned back in her chair. “Does Pinky know?”

Sonic nodded. “Yeah. We told her a few days ago,” he said, knowing she was referring to Amy. “She’s happy for us. Wasn’t that upset, actually, didn’t even cry.”

“She did cry,” Shadow corrected.

Sonic looked surprised, looking at his boyfriend. “Really?” he asked, sounding worried. “I hope she really is okay.”

“Eh, what’s it matter, anyways?” Rouge said with another wave of her hand. “Now she can move on and find someone more suited for her.” Sonic just shrugged and they all took another drink.

-

It had only been a few hours, but the whiskey bottle had long since been empty. Shadow had gone on a run for more, so both he and Sonic were good and drunk by that point, though they knew it would dissipate soon enough. Tails had said goodnight after about an hour, and they spent the rest of the time telling Rouge about Metal and Infinite, along with their theories on how Infinite used ambient Chaos energy. Although Rouge enjoyed watching Sonic and Shadow blatantly flirt with each other—and touch each other, when they thought she wasn’t looking—she was fairly tipsy and was getting tired. 

“Well boys,” she said, standing up, smirking at them both, “It’s been fun, but I’m going to call a cab and call it a night,” she said. 

Sonic stood up, too, grinning at her. “Okay, you get home safe,” he said, slurring just a tiny bit, but he walked over to give her a big hug. Shadow stood also, watching them.

Rouge blinked in surprise and laughed, patting Sonic’s back, careful of the quills. “You try to get to your room safely,” she said, pulling away, looking over at Shadow.

“There’s not enough alcohol in the world to get me to hug you,” Shadow said, crossing his arms, but he gave her a small smirk. 

“Be nice!” Sonic said, completely missing the tone, shooting Shadow a small look, who simply rolled his eyes.

“It’s okay, Blue,” Rouge chuckled, winking at the other agent. “See you soon, hon,” she hummed, moving for the front door. They both watched her leave, and Shadow walked over to lock the door, turning back to look at Sonic, blinking when he was met with a grin.

A minute later, the door to Sonic’s room shut behind them. Sonic’s back hit his bed and he moaned into Shadow’s mouth, arching up when the dark hero pressed their hips together. It didn’t take long before they discarded their gloves, shoes, and communicators—each item finding a place on the floor. 

Shadow growled when he pulled away, moving a hand to Sonic’s chest, tracing over the scar, sliding his hand down further. Sonic moaned quietly as Shadow’s finger rubbed at the slit between his legs, his dick easily emerging into the open. Shadow wrapped his hand around his length, leaning down to kiss Sonic again as he gave a few slow strokes. Sonic shivered and moaned, hips bucking eagerly. 

“Slow down,” Shadow demanded when he pulled away, pressing a kiss to Sonic’s shoulder, and then suddenly dropping lower.

Sonic blinked and lifted his head, watching Shadow trail kisses down his chest, past his belly. “Chaos,” he breathed, letting his head fall back, but then the kisses stopped. 

“Sonic,” Shadow said, and Sonic lifted his head again, to look at him. “Do you have condoms?”

“Condoms?” Sonic asked, blinking again, looking confused. “I—I thought you were just going to use your mouth,” he said.

“I am.”

“So you use condoms when you do that?”

“You can,” Shadow said, looking up at him, from where he had settled himself between Sonic’s legs. “It’s safe sex. It protects us from transmitting diseases.”

Sonic sat up a little bit. “But you know I’ve never done it with anyone.”

“Yes, but I have,” he said, explaining himself. “I don’t have a disease—I can't contract any—but I understand if you want to wear one still.”

Sonic blinked a few times, then smiled like a dope. “Wow, I love you,” he said, reaching down, to grab his ear, just because that was closest. “We don’t need one.”

“Are you sure?” Shadow asked.

Sonic nodded. Shadow nodded back to him, pressing another kiss to his stomach, before scooting down slightly and pressing a kiss to his length. Sonic gave a quiet groan, laying back down, keeping a hold on Shadow’s black ear. His grip tightened when Shadow wetly kissed the tip of his cock, and then took it into his mouth. His eyes closed, and he was glad Shadow grabbed his hips to keep them from bucking. 

“ _Fuck_ ,” Sonic gasped when Shadow applied suction, but then he blinked when Shadow pulled off and snickered. “ _What?_ ” he asked quickly, his muzzle lighting up with blush, sheepish. 

Shadow looked up at him. “I’ve never heard you curse,” he said, obviously very amused.

Sonic blinked again, letting go of his ear to cover his face. “I didn’t even realize I— _Ah!_ Oh, _Shadow!_ ” he started, but was interrupted by his own moan when Shadow’s mouth engulfed his length. He gripped his bedsheets with one hand, the other going back to Shadow’s head, grabbing a quill there. Shadow bobbed his head, sucking gently and using one hand to pump Sonic’s dick where his mouth hadn’t reached just yet. 

When Shadow took him entirely into his mouth, and the tip of Sonic’s cockhead brushed the back of his throat, Sonic tensed up, moaning the other hedgehog’s name as he came into his mouth, down his throat, the warmth and tightness too much for him to handle. He basically collapsed back into the bed, panting and shivering once Shadow finished swallowing it all down and pulled off, licking his lips. 

“Intense, hm?” Shadow purred as he sat up and wiped his chin of saliva. 

“Uh-huh,” Sonic panted, grabbing at Shadow and pulling him forward, to kiss him deeply. The taste still lingered in Shadow’s mouth, but Sonic didn’t think much of it, letting Shadow lick his way between his lips. Sonic rolled them over after a minute, straddling Shadow’s lap as he pulled away. “Your turn,” he said breathlessly.

Shadow slid his hands to Sonic’s hips, blushing also. “You don’t have to,” he said.

Sonic nodded. “I know,” he said, leaning down to kiss him again, before pulling away, and sliding down between his legs. Unlike Sonic, Shadow raised his head to watch him, moving a hand to his head. Sonic looked back up at him, before leaning down to press a kiss to his pouch, closing his eyes. Shadow sighed and then let out a little growl when Sonic used to tongue to get his dick out. 

Sonic wrapped his hand around Shadow’s cock, looking for a moment, glancing up at him, before licking a stripe up along the underside, closing his eyes again. Shadow groaned and let his head fall back, finally closing his eyes when Sonic took him into his mouth. Sonic learned quickly, they had discovered. He sucked, and stroked what didn’t fit between his lips, just as Shadow had, and within a few minutes, Shadow’s breaths were catching in his throat.

“You don’t have to swallow,” Shadow panted, both hands on Sonic’s head now, eyes still closed. Sonic gave a tiny hum of acknowledgement, but it really just made Shadow growl again. When Sonic tried to take him as far as Shadow had taken him, he gagged a little bit, going back to the tip before trying again. Shadow growled even louder, grabbing one of Sonic’s ears and giving a tug. “I—I’m close,” he tried to warn, teeth baring when Sonic gagged again, which unguilty added to the whole sensation. “Sonic,” he tried one last time, tugging at his ear, before he tensed, and came into the hero’s mouth, gasping. 

Sonic could only swallow so fast, pulling off and letting the last spurt land over his lips, gulping down his last mouthful of Shadow’s come.

“Guys! I have an idea about Infinite! I— _Ack!_ ” Tails voice came suddenly from the doorway, as the kit had abruptly opened the door to Sonic’s room. The two hedgehogs looked over when the fox yelped in surprise, eyes going wide at what he had walked in on. Before either could say or do anything, Tails panicked and slammed the door shut as he retreated back to the hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to anyone who catches the SA1 reference!
> 
> Also please remember that the writing in this does not reflect my (the author's) views. This is fiction. In real life, you **CANNOT** give consent if you are impaired and you should always wear a condom with new partners.


	9. Chapter 9

“Tails!” Sonic breathed, bouncing up off the bed and dashing to his door, tugging it open, just to stop in his tracks, blinking down at his friend, who was frozen in his place. The fox’s eyes were wide, and he just looked up at Sonic, mouth agape, a blush quickly spreading across his furry cheeks.

“What’s on your—?” the boy asked, pointing up to Sonic’s mouth.

Sonic’s own eyes went wide then, and he jumped behind the wall, to hide himself from Tails, panting because his adrenaline was so high. Shadow sighed and stood up off the bed, crossing his arms and looking at Tails. “Tell us your idea in the morning,” he said. Tails nodded quickly before scurrying back to his room, shutting the door quietly behind himself.

“I’ve ruined him,” Sonic mumbled, sliding down the wall to sit on the ground, moving his hands to his head.

Shadow rolled his eyes, closing the door and locking it. “Come back to bed,” he said, moving back to the mattress, about to get on, but he stopped when Sonic spoke again.

“How are you not freaking out?!” he breathed, looking up at Shadow. “This is bad. This is really _really_ bad!” he said.

Shadow looked down at him, pausing, before going to sit beside him, leaning back against the wall. “Tails will be alright.”

“How?! He saw you… _you know what_ in my mouth!” he said, sounding anxious.

“Mostly in your mouth,” Shadow said, reaching over, to swipe his thumb over Sonic’s lips, collecting up the rest of the sticky mess he’d left there. It was clearly meant as a joke, even though he didn’t smirk or snicker.

“That’s not helpful,” Sonic blushed brightly, though he slouched and leaned over, resting his head on Shadow’s shoulder. “What are we going to do?” he asked, closing his eyes, frowning slightly.

“We’ll talk to him in the morning,” he said. “He will probably have questions.”

Sonic groaned. “I don’t have any answers for him.”

“Why not?”

“Because!” Sonic said, sitting up and looking over at Shadow, who looked back at him calmly. “I don’t even know that much. And—and he’s too young to talk to about that stuff.”

“He will hit puberty soon. You’ll have to talk to him about sex sooner or later,” Shadow said, eyeing him.

Sonic made a face at the thought. “Well, not yet. He’s still healing—he doesn’t need to think about that stuff right now.”

“Fine,” the darker of the two said. Sonic frowned a tiny bit, thinking he wanted to argue—old habits die hard, after all—but before he could start to say anything, Shadow leaned over to kiss him gently. Sonic blinked, not expecting it, even though that’s all they ever did when they were alone. After a second, he closed his eyes and leaned into the kiss, exhaling through his nose, smiling a tiny bit when Shadow slid a hand to his waist. After a minute, Shadow pulled away, looking down at Sonic. “You’re tired.”

Sonic smiled into Shadow’s shoulder, relaxed once again after making out, his eyes still closed. “No I’m not,” he yawned. Shadow shook his head, moving one of his arms under Sonic’s legs and the other under his shoulders, picking him up as he stood. This jostled the hero awake. He blinked multiple times up at his partner, before blushing deeply. “Did you just pick me up?” he asked.

“Yes,” he said, as if it were no big deal, walking a few steps to the bed to set Sonic down. Then he rounded it so he could lay down beside him. He ignored how Sonic was staring at him—just pulled the covers up around them and then settled on his back. Sonic turned and wrapped an arm around Shadow’s waist, smiling to himself.

“Shads?” he asked, after a few minutes.

“Hm?”

“Are you going to stay here after we defeat Eggman and Infinite?”

“If you would like me to, yes.”

Sonic smiled. “Okay.”

-

For the first time ever, Sonic was dreading talking to Tails. When he and Shadow had gotten up, they attempted to make breakfast together—under written instructions Amy had left them. The pancakes were flat and the bacon was overcooked, but they hadn’t burnt the house down, so they considered it a success. By the time they ate and cleaned up—apart from a plate they had left for Tails—it was already 11 o’clock, and the kit hadn’t emerged from his room yet.

“He’s never going to be able to look at me the same,” Sonic mumbled, sitting on the couch, bouncing his foot. He’d never been so fidgety in his life. 

“You’re acting dramatic, hedgehog,” Shadow said, standing by the stairs, arms crossed.

When the front door opened, both heroes looked over, and Sonic shot up from the couch. “Tails?! What were you doing out?!” he gasped, running over to his best friend, who just entered the house, carrying a handful of papers. He looked tired, but he grinned in amusement when Sonic grabbed his shoulders, eyeing him for any new injuries. 

“I was in my workshop. I couldn’t sleep,” he said, giving an awkward laugh, but before Sonic could apologize, he moved over to the table, setting down the papers. “I designed a plan to defeat Infinite, though!” he said, obviously much more excited about that, not wanting to dwell on what had happened last night. He knew enough that he didn’t want to ask them any questions.

Sonic followed him, still concerned, but when he looked down at the papers, he was momentarily surprised. “Wow, you came up with all of this overnight?” he asked. “What’s with all the math?”

Tails giggled excitedly, clearly glad to be of help again. “That’s the technical stuff,” he said, shuffling the papers around to grab one, setting it on top. “This is what’s important. A modification to your communicators!”

Shadow walked over, eyeing the messy drawing over the kit’s shoulder—Tails had to use his left hand, but it was still more comprehensible than Sonic’s _good_ writing, Shadow thought. “What is it?”

Tails turned to his two friends, smiling brightly. “It’ll let you use ambient energy to make your super forms even stronger!” he exclaimed. 

Sonic grinned and wrapped his arm around Tails’ shoulders, as he would any other day. “Way to go, Tails! That’ll give us the upper hand for sure!”

Tails gave a sheepish laugh, nodding. “All you need to do is get the device Eggman gave Infinite to stop them,” he said. “But,” he paused, “you need all seven Chaos Emeralds to get into your super forms, like you usually would. It only helps you once you’re in it,” he clarified with slight disappointment.

“No problem,” Sonic said, squeezing him closer, which made Tails grin. “We basically already have three. I’m pretty sure Knuckles has one,” he said. “So three left.”

“The doctor has one,” Shadow reminded, frowning at the confused look Sonic gave him. “The one he stole from Omega.”

“Oh, right,” Sonic laughed nervously.

“I think I can make the modifications even with my arm broken,” Tails said, not doubting that Sonic and Shadow could get the last two Emeralds. “It’ll take some time though. It’ll be in your coms, so it has to be small—the work will have to be done carefully.”

“How long?” Shadow asked.

“A few days. Maybe a week,” Tails sighed.

“That’s fine. It’ll give G.U.N. enough time to find the last two,” Sonic said, letting go of Tails finally.

Shadow looked at him, frowning slightly. “It’ll take them longer than that,” he said. “We should find them.”

Sonic blinked, crossing his arms also. “We can’t leave Tails, remember?”

“We can leave the pink hedgehog with him. Or the echidna,” he said. “We will find the Emeralds faster than anyone else.”

“Guys…” Tails tried to chime in.

“Are you crazy?!” Sonic said, dropping his arms and clenching his fists at his sides. “What if something happens to him and we’re not here? Amy and Knuckles couldn’t take Infinite!”

“It is unlikely he will attack Tails again,” Shadow said.

Sonic grit his teeth. “And you’re willing to take that risk?”

“Guys!” Tails said firmly, before they could begin to fight. “You’ll have to go. Infinite wants you to challenge him when you’re at your strongest because he’s cocky, but he won’t wait forever.”

Sonic huffed. “Fine,” he said, glancing at Shadow, who just nodded to Tails. 

There was an awkward silence for a moment, but then Tails began to collect up his papers. “And one other thing,” he started, pausing to look between Shadow and Sonic. “I think we should ask Silver for help.”

Sonic looked surprised, but then gave Tails a small smile. “I think me and Shads can handle this,” he said, glancing at the darker hedgehog.

“I agree,” Shadow said, looking at Tails. “We don’t need to waste time modifying his communicator.”

Tails sighed and nodded. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll get started right away.”

Sonic blinked and grabbed his shoulder gently. “Whoa, how about you eat first, buddy? And you should probably get some sleep because, ya’ know, hand-eye-coordination,” he said.

Tails nodded, setting the papers back down. “Yeah, you’re right,” he said, giving Sonic a smile. “Thanks.”

-

After Tails had eaten and gone up to his room to take a nap, Shadow walked over to look at the plans and blueprints the kid had spent all night working on. Sonic watched him, crossing his arms and tapping his foot. “So, you want to tell me what that was all about?” he asked.

Shadow turned and looked at him, frowning slightly. “What?”

“Why you’re perfectly fine leaving Tails here!” Sonic clarified, frowning back at him.

“Do you really think something will happen to him?”

“After what already happened to him, yeah, I do,” he said, sounding a little angry. “So what is it?” Shadow frowned at him and said nothing, so Sonic dropped his arms. “ _What?_ ”

“You think I don’t really care about him,” he said flatly. 

Sonic blinked, sighed. “No, that’s not true,” he said with a shake of his head, walking over to him. “I said I trusted you, and I meant that,” he started, trying to give him a smile, but Shadow didn’t move or change his expression. “You never just talk to me. I don’t know what you’re thinking most of the time.”

Shadow eyed him for a moment before looking down at the papers again. “I’ve already told you I love you,” he reminded.

Sonic rolled his eyes. “I know, but I want to know what’s going on in here,” he said, lifting his hand to poke Shadow’s temple. Shadow looked over at him, giving him a small glare, but Sonic grinned because he knew that look was full of empty threats. “C’mon, man. I’m your boyfriend, right? I’m here to listen.”

Shadow tensed a little bit when Sonic grabbed his arms, but then let the blue hedgehog uncross them and hold his hands. “I—” he started, not breaking eye contact, standing his ground despite how vulnerable he was at the moment—in a way he hadn’t been with anyone in his long lifetime. “I haven’t cared for many people,” he said, frowning deeply. “And those who I have cared for were taken from me. I don’t want you or the fox to be taken from me.” Sonic blinked when Shadow tugged his hands free, crossing his arms again.

“You need to relax,” Sonic said, grabbing his arms again.

Shadow made a face. “This is uncomfortable,” he said, looking down when Sonic held his hands a second time. 

“Shadow,” Sonic said, and when he looked up at him, he leaned in and kissed him. Shadow shut his eyes somewhat tightly, leaning into it also. When they broke the kiss, he gave a slow sigh, relaxing just a tiny bit. “You’re more comfortable with that stuff, huh?” Sonic asked, smiling affectionately at him.

Shadow nodded. “Yes,” he said, holding his hands in return, now. Before the quiet could settle, he spoke again—”I want to deal with Infinite as quickly as possible,” he said, looking at Sonic. “So I know you and the fox will no longer be in danger.”

“Okay,” Sonic said. “I get it,” he added, still smiling, and now blushing a little bit. “I guess as long as Knux or Amy is here, it’ll be okay,” he said, thinking that defeating Eggman and Infinite sooner rather than later was a good idea. Shadow nodded, but then blinked when Sonic kiss him again, this time deeper. 

“Are you—” Shadow started to ask once they pulled away from each other, but Sonic cut him off, before he could ask with his usual blunt vocabulary. 

“In the mood? Yeah,” Sonic hummed, letting go of one of his hands, just to turn around and lead the dark hero to the stairs, up them, and to his room. 

“We should look for the Chaos Emeralds,” Shadow said, though he wasn’t resisting at all. 

“It can wait,” Sonic laughed when he shut—and locked—the door behind them—his downstairs-brain doing the thinking at the moment. Shadow didn’t have time to say anything in return before Sonic was pressing his lips to his own. Sonic made himself smaller, just so he could wrap his arms around the back of Shadow’s neck and lean up into him. When they fell back on the bed, Sonic broke the kiss, so he could adjust and straddle Shadow’s hips, grabbing one of his ears playfully. “What do we need to have sex?”

Shadow looked at him in surprise. “Nothing, if it’s oral,” he said, instinctively sliding his hands to rest on Sonic’s hips.

“That’s not the type I’m talking about,” Sonic said, looking down at him, grinning a tiny bit.

Shadow blinked once. “Anal?”

“Chaos! Shut up!” Sonic said quickly, hating it when Shadow was so candid about it, though he still blushed brightly. “But, yeah.”

Shadow blushed then, too. “We don’t have to rush into that,” he said, a bit worried Sonic was getting ahead of himself, but the other hedgehog just shook his head. 

“I want it. I want you,” he said, tugging at his ear gently.

Shadow’s blush deepened and he shifted slightly under Sonic. “Lubricant,” he answered after a long pause. “And a condom, if you want one.”

“Don’t need one,” Sonic said immediately, letting go of his ear just to lean down and take it gingerly between his teeth. It hurt, since it was so sensitive, but Shadow enjoyed it, nonetheless. “Can I get ‘lubricant’ at the drug store?” he asked without letting go of his ear.

“Yes,” he breathed, his other ear flicking, his hands sliding up to Sonic’s waist, eyes closing. “But we don’t have to—”

“Don’t move,” Sonic interrupted, pulling away and suddenly getting off him. Shadow blinked and propped himself up on an elbow, watching Sonic move to the door. They looked at each other for a second. “Be back in a minute,” he added, before unlocking the door and slipping out. 

Shadow sat up, taking off his Air Shoes, setting them off by the side of the bed. He paused to think, smiling just faintly to himself as he took off his communicator. Before he could get to his gloves, Sonic was running back into the room.

“Guh!” Shadow grunted as he was practically _tackled_ back onto the bed. Sonic’s lips were on his own, but when the blue hero pulled away, he they were both panting, and Sonic laughed.

“Whoops,” he chuckled, letting Shadow catch his breath, since he’d accidentally knocked some of the wind out of him.

Once he was breathing properly, Shadow look amused, one corner of his lips curled up into a smirk. “The door,” he prompted.

Sonic grinned and nodded. “Did I get the right one?” he asked after he had gotten up and handed Shadow a little rectangular box.

Shadow admired him as he walked over to shut and lock their door. He sat up again, glancing at the box before opening it up and pulling out the tube inside. “Yes,” he hummed. This time, when Sonic moved back over, Shadow grabbed his wrist and pulled him onto the bed.

“I think the cashier recognized me,” Sonic said with a sheepish laugh, scooting back and kicking off his shoes.

“You shouldn’t care,” Shadow said, turning onto his knees, to lean over and kiss him, pushing him down and sliding between his legs, all with extreme grace.

Sonic gave a quiet moan and wrapped his arms around Shadow’s back. He pulled away when the darker hedgehog rolled his hips down, gasping. “I—ah—don’t,” he purred, arching up.

“Good,” Shadow said, moving his lips to Sonic’s neck, kissing him lazily there, grinding his hips down just slightly.

“ _Oh_ ,” Sonic sighed, closing his eyes, tilting his head. Shadow slid his teeth across the still-fresh bite mark on Sonic’s neck, without rebreaking the skin. “Oh, Chaos,” Sonic mumbled when he heard Shadow pop open the lid of the lube. Shadow pulled away, pushing his knees under Sonic’s, sitting back on the heels of his feet so he could pull off his gloves. Sonic pulled off his own, too, and his communicator.

“You sure about this?” Shadow asked one last time, looking down at him.

Sonic nodded rapidly. “Yes. _Yes_ ,” he said.

Shadow nodded back to him, turning the tube over and squirting some lube onto two of his fingers, using his thumb to spread it along the lengths of both. Sonic watched and, if he weren’t already blushing to his max, would’ve blushed some more. He was confused, only for a second before both fingers were pressing to the tight ring of muscle under his tail. He gasped and squirmed a bit, only for Shadow to press his free hand to his chest.

“You okay?” he asked, stilling his hand.

Sonic nodded again, closing his eyes. “I—I thought you’d just put your—” he started, too embarrassed to finish.

“No,” Shadow said, leaning down to press a kiss to his cheek, slowly circling his two fingers, listening to Sonic make a rather interesting noise. “That would hurt you. I have to loosen you up first.”

Sonic mewled when one of the other’s fingers just barely pushed into him. “O—Okay,” he mumbled, spreading his legs. 

“Stop me if it hurts,” he said, slowly pushing a single finger into the hero, listening to him try to acknowledge what he had told him, but it just came out as an incoherent mumble. Sonic turned his head and pressed his face into Shadow’s neck. It didn’t hurt, but just made him ache. It was uncomfortable, but once Shadow’s finger was to the hilt, he started to relax a little bit. Shadow let him adjust for a minute before slowly drawing his finger out, to his first knuckle, just to push it back in completely.

“Fuck,” Sonic grit, holding onto Shadow tightly. 

“Still okay?” he asked, and when Sonic nodded, he repeated the movement. Sonic moaned into his neck. It took several minutes before Sonic relaxed enough that Shadow could find a nice rhythm with his hand. He added his second finger, and Sonic gave a happy whimper in response. He pumped his fingers in and out of him for a while before he curled them, finding the bundle of nerves he was looking for.

Sonic’s hips bucked without his permission, and he keened as pleasure flooded his system. “Ah!” he groaned, grabbing one of Shadow’s quills. “Wh—What was that?” he asked shakily.

“Your prostate,” Shadow said, rubbed at the spot again. Sonic had to clench his jaw to stop himself from being loud.

“My—My what?” he asked, dropping back so he could look up at Shadow, his jaw going slack when the gland was massaged again. 

“Prostate,” he repeated, leaning down to kiss him, pulling his fingers out partly and pushing them back in, against that spot seemed to make Sonic’s brain stop working. Sonic shivered, trying to kiss him back, but it was sloppy—he was distracted, so Shadow pulled away. He kissed Sonic’s cheek instead, scissoring his fingers apart, rubbing that bundle inside of him.

“Stop!” he choked out suddenly. Shadow blinked and stilled his hand, pulling away to look down at him, but his worries were relieved when Sonic leaned up to shakily kiss him. When he pulled away, he gave Shadow a little grin. “You’re gonna make me come if you keep doing that,” he said with a small laugh.

Shadow hummed, slowly pulling his fingers out of him. “Is that a bad thing?” he asked.

“Well, yeah, since your dick isn’t in me yet.”

Shadow blinked and blushed wildly, nodding and sitting back again. Both of their hard cocks had found their way out on their own, so Shadow just grabbed the lubricant again. This time, he coated his dick with it. “You ready?” he asked, looking down at his boyfriend.

“Yeah,” he breathed impatiently, only waiting for Shadow to align himself up and push his tip in before reaching out to grab his shoulders. He pulled him down into a deep kiss, licking eagerly into his mouth. He had to break the kiss when Shadow slid the rest of the way in, wincing when he bottomed out.

“Shit,” Shadow breathed, looking down at him, frowning then. “I—”

Sonic shook his head, gripping his shoulders, eyes screwed shut. “No, no, it’s okay,” he panted. “Sorry. Just wait a sec’.”

“I should’ve been slower,” he said, moving a hand to cup Sonic’s cheek.

He opened his eyes to look up at him, eyes a little watery. “No. I just didn’t know you’d be so big,” he said with a small laugh. When Shadow just frowned even more, Sonic shook his head, leaning up to kiss him, slower, sighing through his nose. “I’m okay,” he said, once he pulled away.

“If you need more time—”

“Move, Faker,” Sonic said, his voice not as tight, giving Shadow a reassuring little grin. 

Shadow sighed, leaning down to kiss his cheek. “Stop me if you need it,” he reminded, shifting his hips back just slightly, before pressing them forward. Sonic just groaned and nodded, closing his eyes, grabbing onto his back quills. Shadow groaned too, dropping his forehead to Sonic’s shoulder as he slowly and carefully started with a steady rhythm of his hips. 

“Chaos, Shadow,” Sonic panted after a minute, when he sped up, the tip of his dick sliding across his prostate. 

“Fuck,” he growled, grabbing one of Sonic’s hands and pinning it down to the bed, lacing their fingers together. They kissed deeply as Shadow began an even quicker and rougher rhythm, breaking apart just to gasp for breath together. 

“Shads—” he moaned, holding his hand tightly, his voice catching in the back of his throat. “I—I’m close. _Ah—_ "

“Me too,” Shadow growled, nipping at his neck. Sonic arched his back, wrapping his legs around the other, urging him even closer. Shadow growled again and moved his free hand between them, wrapping a hand around Sonic’s leaking length, giving him a few strong strokes. Sonic tensed, growling also as he came hard between them, on himself, his hole tightening around Shadow’s cock. “Fuck, Sonic,” he panted, snapping his hips forward a few more times before coming inside of him, sinking his teeth into his shoulder, moaning lowly. 

They caught their breaths together. Sonic was the first one to turn his head, making Shadow unlatch from his shoulder, so he could kiss him, slow and deep. Shadow shifted back slightly, pulling out of him, and Sonic broke the kiss, sighing. “Wow,” he mumbled, looking up at the dark hero.

“Mhm,” Shadow agreed, looking down at him, blinking at his appearance.

Sonic blinked back at him, smiling like a dope. “What?” he asked with a soft chuckle.

“You look good,” he said quietly.

Sonic grinned. “Don’t I always?” he asked, playful as always. 

“Yes, you do,” he said, leaning down to kiss his cheek. “Did I hurt you?”

He laughed. “No, ‘course not.”

“Good,” he hummed, pressing a loving kiss to his lips before sliding off to his side. Sonic sighed contently and watched him lean over to his nightstand, to open the drawer and pull out one of many washcloths they had stashed there. He wiped off the tiny bit of blood from the hero’s shoulder, then wiped his stomach, but then Sonic sat up, taking it from him.

“I got the rest,” he said, making an embarrassed face. 

Shadow gave him a small look. “We just had sex and you won’t allow me to clean you off?”

Sonic scrunched up his nose. “It’s weird.” 

“No, it’s not,” he said, leaning down to kiss his shoulder. 

Sonic batted him away. “Yeah, yeah, whatever,” he hummed, smiling, wiping himself off quickly before throwing the cloth into the waste basket in the corner of the room. Shadow was already laying back and Sonic nearly laid down on top of him, fitting perfect against his side. Shadow moved his arm around him and Sonic nuzzled into his chest fur. “You’re good at that,” he said as he closed his eyes. When Shadow didn’t respond, he scooted back and looked at him, smiling still—that wouldn’t change for a while. “Hey, remember what I said about wanting to know what you’re thinking about?”

Shadow opened his eyes and looked over at him. He paused to think of what he wanted to say. “That was the first time I was on top like that.”

Sonic blinked in surprise. “Really?” he asked. “You did it like a pro,” he grinned. 

“Of course I did, I am the Ultimate Lifeform,” he said.

Sonic laughed, leaning over to peck his lips, truly adoring him. “I thought you said you’ve done it before.”

“I have, but as the receiver.”

Sonic blushed at that mental image. “Well I can tell you liked it this way, too,” he said with a confident smirk. 

“I’ll like anything I do with you,” he said quietly, and Sonic blinked, blushing properly.

“Yeah, me too,” he said, leaning over to peck his cheek, before suddenly settling and closing his eyes again. Shadow closed his as well, and within a few minutes they had both dozed off.

-

“So how did you get so good at patching up wounds?” Sonic asked, sitting at the table in Tails’ house.

Shadow frowned as he wrapped gauze around Sonic’s arm, sitting across from him. “I am not going to discuss this now,” he said.

“Why? ‘Cause I’m here?” Knuckles huffed, arms crossed as he leaned against the nearby wall and watched them.

“Tch.”

“He’s not that good at it,” Knuckles said, frowning at the amount of injuries Sonic had gotten while retrieving the last Chaos Emerald they were able to get. It had been five days and they now had six of the seven Emeralds—three they found, two from Omega’s missions, and the last from Knuckles, who was now spending most of his time with Tails. “You wouldn’t have that scar on your chest if he was.”

“I probably wouldn’t be alive if not for his skillful fingers,” Sonic said, smirking at Knux as Shadow cleaned a scratch on his forehead.

“Hey! I’m still here you know!” Tails said, peering over the couch to make at face at his friend. 

Knuckles rolled his eyes, ignoring the innuendo, which really just angered him more. “I still think he just likes getting you beat up.”

Shadow growled at that, standing suddenly. “Would you like to step outside?” he threatened, clenching his fists. 

Knuckles bared his teeth, straightening up too and facing him. “Gladly,” he snapped, and Tails’ ears flattened.

“Would you guys knock it off?” Sonic sighed, standing up. “We got split up and I just happened to run into those old booby traps,” he said with a shrug, not upset by it. “It’s no big deal.”

“Yeah, Sonic handled it, and got the Emerald,” Tails said, trying to give them all a smile, disliking all of the tension.

Knuckles scoffed. “Fine, whatever,” he said, leaning back against the wall and crossing his arms again. Shadow crossed his as well, watching the echidna. “How are we going to get the last Emerald?”

“Infinite probably has it, since that device lets him use Chaos energy like us,” Sonic mused, raising a fist confidently. “We’ll just swipe it off of him before we kick the crap out of him!”

“Sonic, I don’t think you get just how strong he is,” Tails said, massaging his broken tail nervously. 

“I know we can take him,” Sonic said. “The communicators will be ready to go tomorrow, won’t they?” Tails gave a nod. “Then we should attack right away. So, unless anyone else has a better idea, we should take him on together for that Emerald,” he said, looking over at Shadow, since that’s who ‘together’ was referring to. “Then we can defeat him. Him and Egg-head.”

“I could warp into the base and steal it,” Shadow suggested, but Sonic shook his head.

“The last thing we need is you getting hurt before we fight him,” Tails said, frowning, obviously worried by that idea. 

“I’ll heal when I go super,” Shadow said, looking at the kit.

“No way!” Sonic said, shaking his head. “We’ll do it together.” Shadow sighed, about to speak, but Sonic grabbed his arm and leaned over to give him a kiss. Shadow tensed, unused to their affections being seen by anyone but Tails, very aware of Knuckles’ presence. The echidna just looked away, glowering to himself. When Sonic pulled away, he grinned at Shadow’s blush, and at his slightly annoyed look. “It’s settled then,” he started, looking around at all of them, “we attack tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, please remember that the writing in this does not reflect my (the author's) views. This is fiction. In real life, you should always wear a condom with new partners.


	10. Chapter 10

Sonic blinked when he was pushed onto their bed, his breath catching in his throat when Shadow grabbed his wrists and pinned his arms down to the sheets. “Huh?” he said, blinking again when the darker hedgehog leaned down and pressed an open-mouthed kiss to his lips. Sonic shivered, making a soft noise when Shadow wedged himself in between his legs. He squirmed and turned his head away, panting a little bit—Shadow was the only person who could get him out of breath. “Maybe we should save this for after the fight tomorrow,” he said with a small laugh, looking up at Shadow.

Shadow looked down at him, still pinning him. “Afraid you can’t keep up?”

Sonic gave him a challenging grin. “I know I can,” he said, though he shifted a tiny bit. “But… I’m kinda sore from earlier still,” he said, looking more apologetic than anything.

Shadow eyed him for a moment. “Fuck me, then.”

Sonic’s eyes went wide, but before he could respond, Shadow smashed his lips to his. He slid his legs over his thighs, to the outside of his hips, straddling Sonic, who squirmed again. He tore a hand free—since Shadow wasn’t using any real strength to keep him down—and then shoved him off, sitting up, flushed and blushing. “Shadow, what the heck?” he huffed, frowning at him.

Shadow frowned in return. “What?”

Sonic gave him a small look, tilting his head. “What was that about?” he asked. “Why are you hurrying to do it now? Knuckles left like, five minutes ago.”

“You’re not in the mood.”

“Not when you call it ‘fucking’,” Sonic said. “Doesn’t it mean more to you than that?”

Shadow bared his teeth at that. “What the hell are you implying?” he snapped, suddenly standing from the bed, but Sonic reached out and grabbed his arm before he went too far. 

“I just want to know why you’re rushing all of a sudden.”

Shadow looked down at Sonic’s arm, then back at him. For a moment, Sonic thought he might become angrier, but instead, he sat down on the edge of the bed, still frowning. “Our plan for tomorrow is stupid.”

Sonic was surprised, so he let go of his arm and scooted over to sit beside him. “What do you mean?”

“Our plan is going to get you killed,” Shadow said, looking over at him, hands balled into fists. 

“No it’s not,” Sonic said, giving him a small smile. “But I don’t know what that has to do with this.”

Shadow frowned even more, looking down a bit. He didn’t know how to communicate how he was feeling. Talking was not something he did well. “I…” he started, but he didn’t have an ending for that sentence.

“Hey,” Sonic said, just to get his attention. “Are you afraid you’re going to lose me?” Shadow clenched his jaw and then gave a small nod. “And you want to have sex because you think it might be the last time we’ll be able to?” Shadow nodded again, about to look away, but Sonic grabbed his hand, just to lace their gloved fingers together. “Shads, I’m not going to die,” he said with a little laugh.

“You are not invincible,” Shadow said, obviously not believing his statement.

“I am when I’m in my super form,” Sonic reminded, smiling affectionately at him. “And I’ve never lost a battle before.”

“I have beaten you in combat.”

Sonic rolled his eyes, grinning since it was playful. “Yeah, but I’m talking about this kind. The all-or-nothing battles,” he said. “I’ve always been on the ‘all’ side.”

“You haven’t,” Shadow said, eyeing him. “If not for me, Metal would have killed you with his newest upgrades.” 

“’Would have’,” Sonic repeated with a grin. “But he didn’t, because it was you _and_ me.”

“You told me to watch over the fox. You thought you were going to die.”

Sonic shrugged. “I was being dramatic,” he said. “There’s no way anyone could be strong enough to take us on, not even Infinite.”

“He predicted my Chaos control,” he pointed out. “The only person fast enough to dodge me is you.”

Sonic grinned a little at the compliment, even if it wasn’t meant as one at the moment. “He got lucky,” he said. “We’ll be able to take the Emerald and then win the fight. No doubt about it.”

Shadow bared his teeth. “That is a stupid plan,” he growled, shoving his hand away and standing suddenly again. “I should get it now.”

Sonic blinked and looked up at him. “I don’t want you going alone,” he said, shaking his head. “You wouldn’t want me going alone, would you?”

“No, but I am the Ultimate Lifeform,” he said firmly. “You aren’t.”

Sonic sighed and thought for a moment, tapping his foot on the floor. “Can’t I come with you?” he asked, crossing his arms, since he knew he really couldn’t stop Shadow and he’d probably go anyways.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I’ll be quicker on my own.”

Sonic tapped his foot even faster as he contemplated Shadow’s reasoning, looking up at him before standing. “Fine,” he said, putting both hands on Shadow’s shoulders and grinning. “But you better be careful. I don’t want anything happening to your pretty face,” he said, giving him a flirty smirk.

“Don’t call me pretty,” Shadow said with distaste, eyeing him. 

Sonic laughed, bending his arms, just to step in and kiss Shadow, gentler than when Shadow had pinned him on the bed. When he pulled away, Shadow was blushing a tiny bit. “I mean it though. Be careful. And come back right away.”

“Tch,” Shadow huffed, brushing Sonic’s hands away from his shoulders, turning to grab one of the five Chaos Emeralds from the dresser.

“Knock ‘em dead,” Sonic said, suddenly bringing his hand down to give Shadow’s ass one playful, firm pat. Shadow blinked and blushed a dark pink, huffing, and then used Chaos control to warp away.

Sonic sat back down on their bed, glancing at his communicator for the time. He knew Shadow was probably right about tomorrow. It would be better if they had all the Emeralds ahead of time and could enter the fight as their super forms.

Shadow warped back into their room after a few minutes. Sonic bounced up onto his feet. “How’d it go?” he asked, eyeing his boyfriend for any new injuries, but he was unscathed. 

“They wanted us to have it,” Shadow said, walking over to set two Emeralds down on the dresser, eyeing the six that were there now.

“What?” Sonic asked in confusion.

Shadow turned to him, crossing his arms. “There were no defenses guarding it. The whole base was abandoned.”

Sonic frowned a bit in thought. “Where are they then?” he asked.

“We’ll find out tomorrow.” Shadow said, simply taking off his gloves and communicator, sitting down on the bed to take off his shoes. “They know we’re coming. There’s no use in a sneak attack.”

Sonic sat down too. “But why would they want us to have it?”

“The fox said Infinite is cocky. Perhaps he wants to battle us when we’re supers.”

Sonic grinned. “Well, that’s dumb. He can’t beat us,” he laughed, kicking off his own shoes.

Shadow looked at him. “Your optimism is idiotic.”

Sonic snickered. “Come on. The two of us are unstoppable together,” he said, leaning over to give him a surprise kiss. Shadow blushed at Sonic’s newfound forwardness. All of the affectionate kissing, the playful pat on his rear—these were new to Shadow, but he knew it would’ve only been a matter of time before the other hedgehog grew comfortable with his recently-discovered sexuality. It wasn’t something they talked about, but Shadow knew, nonetheless. “You’ve got my back, right?” Sonic asked when he pulled away, already knowing the answer, but letting him respond anyways.

“Yes.”

“And I’ve got yours. There’s no way we can’t win this,” Sonic said with a smile, sliding his hand up to cup Shadow cheek, emerald-green eyes bright and full of confidence. “We use Chaos energy to help the world, and we use it with love in our hearts.”

Shadow just hummed in thought.

“I’m right, and you know it,” Sonic said with a wink, before leaning in to kiss him. After a moment, they turned, and Shadow gently pressed him into the mattress. He straddled one of Sonic’s legs, slowly licking into his mouth. After a minute, he slid a hand up, to take one of Sonic’s ears between his thumb and pointer finger, rubbing gently. It was a lot of stimulation—and the fact that six Emeralds were a couple feet away didn’t help, either.

“Woah,” Sonic gasped as he pulled away, blushing deeply, moving his hands to Shadow’s chest. “H—Hey, I meant it when I said I didn’t want to do anything tonight.”

“I know,” Shadow said, still rubbing, looking down at him.

Sonic shivered, eyes fluttering shut. “Then stop doing that,” he sighed. Shadow smirked to himself, leaning down to kiss Sonic’s muzzle, not letting go of his ear just yet. Sonic shivered again, but then blinked when Shadow let go and slid off his leg to sit at his side.

“Has it occurred to you that our relationship has moved quickly?”

Sonic propped himself up on an elbow, still blushing when he looked over at him. “Well, we’re the fastest things on the planet, so it makes sense,” he said with a shrug and grin, feeling a little warm from his ear being messed with. “Plus we’ve known each other for a while.”

“Yes, but I detested you prior to three weeks ago, even when I was allied with you.”

Sonic gave him a flat look. “Well, I always knew we’d end up being friends,” he said. “And now we’re more than that.” Shadow just looked at him for a second before he moved to lay down. “Why do you ask? Is it a bad thing?” Sonic asked as he laid back down, too, taking off his gloves and communicator. 

“No,” Shadow said, leaving it at that as he pulled the covers up around them, only to lean over and kiss Sonic. Sonic scooted closer and pushed his fingers into Shadow’s white chest fur. They kissed slowly for a while, Shadow stroking Sonic’s side affectionately. Sonic even began to doze as they made out, which Shadow didn’t mind in the slightest, but after many long minutes, there was a tiny knock at their closed door.

Shadow broke the kiss and looked over, and Sonic looked over too, after he blinked back to alertness. He glanced at Shadow before getting up to answer. “Oh, hey, buddy,” he greeted Tails quietly, giving him a worried little smile. “Everything okay?”

Tails nodded, looking tired and groggy. “I was kinda wondering if I could stay with you guys tonight,” he asked, glancing over at Shadow, who had sat up. 

Sonic looked surprised, but he just nodded. “Sure, of course,” he said, moving aside to let his best friend pad into their room. Shadow didn’t question Sonic’s decision, scooting over to make more room.

“Thanks,” Tails mumbled, stopping at the end of the bed, looking between them. “I, uh, didn’t mean to interrupt anything you were doing.”

“You didn’t,” Shadow said.

Sonic nodded. “Yeah, don’t worry,” he agreed, getting onto the mattress, on the other side from Shadow, leaving room between them. Shadow blinked at him, then watched the kit climb on between them, shimmying under the covers. Tails glanced at him.

“It’s fine,” Shadow told him, laying back down, on his back, like usual—it was the only way he could sleep. Tails smiled, laying down also, turning toward Sonic, cuddling up to him. It was a little cramped, especially with both hedgehogs on their back, and a pre-teen between them. Even if Tails’ namesakes nearly pushed Shadow off, they made do and got comfortable. 

Tails was the first to fall asleep, breathing gently on Sonic’s chest. Sonic fell asleep watching Shadow, and Shadow could only intermittently drift in and out of sleep. 

-

He wasn’t quite sure what time it was, but Shadow woke up suddenly at one point in the night. He blinked at the darkness of the room, glancing over at the two others beside him. He was surprised to see Tails had turned over to face him, now pressed into his side, with an arm resting over his torso. Sonic had turned also, an arm around Tails and Shadow, with his hand resting on the dark hero’s chest.

Shadow looked at them both. He understood why Tails wanted to join them—he had figured he was longing for Sonic’s comfort, since it was the night before an important confrontation—but he failed to realize the fox cared for him in a similar way he cared for Sonic. They were probably like older brothers to him, he thought. Shadow provided him the same solace that Sonic did. 

And so, he allowed the position. He turned his head back up to the ceiling and closed his eyes, forcing his mind and body back to rest. 

-

The next morning would’ve been quiet and tense if not for Sonic. He kept reassuring Shadow and Tails that they were bound to win against Eggman and Infinite. None of Eggman’s prior plans worked, he told them, and beating Infinite would be just like beating any one of Eggman’s creations. Tails trusted Sonic’s word—they had overcome many obstacles together—but Shadow was more of a realist. Based on what Tails told them and what he’d seen for himself, they were in for a good fight, even as supers. 

After breakfast, Tails took Sonic’s and Shadow’s communicators, to apply to modifications he’d been working on for the past few days. It took only an hour of soldering to finish.

“They’re ready to go!” Tails said as he handed Sonic and Shadow their devices back, sitting down next to Sonic on the couch.

Shadow moved his arm from around Sonic’s shoulders, putting his on communicator carefully. Sonic smacked his own back onto his wrist. “How do they work again?” he asked, even though Tails had already explained it twice.

“They’re automatic. As soon as you go super, they’ll start collecting ambient Chaos energy to increase your maximum power output,” Tails said, looking over at his friend. “There should be a point when you max out, but I doubt you’ll hit that.”

“And if we do?” Shadow asked, looking over at the kid.

Tails thought for a moment. “Well, you’ll leave your super form, like you would normally. But that means you’ll be extra tired,” he said, frowning slightly. “I guess I didn’t think of that.”

“It won’t matter,” Sonic grinned. “Because we’ll beat Infinite and Eggman. We can rest all we want afterwards.” Tails smiled happily at that reminder, but Shadow just eyed his boyfriend, before returning his arm around him and diverting his attention back to the news.

-

After no word of Eggman or Infinite by the late afternoon, the three of them decided to go out and search for them. They let Knuckles know, so he could meet up with them and deliver the last Chaos Emerald—it was best not to have all seven around until they absolutely needed them. Meanwhile, Sonic, Shadow, and Tails headed to the forest outside of town, away from the direction of the city, and sooner than they expected, just like clockwork, they skidded to a stop in a tiny clearing. 

“Well, it seems you’ve finally come to terms with your demise,” Infinite said as he floated above them, voice darker than the last time they had been face-to-face.

“You wish!” Sonic huffed, clenching a fist and raising it. “We’ve come to kick your butt!”

Infinite chuckled. “Your attempts to scare me are fruitless,” he said. “Especially so, since you lack a Chaos Emerald.”

Shadow bared his teeth up at the jackal. “You’re going to pay for what you’ve done, Chaos Emerald or not,” he growled.

“You refer to the scars I’ve left on your young fox,” he chuckled, looking at Tails, who balled up his fists and stood steadfast. “Perhaps we can add to them, after I’ve ended your meaningless lives.”

“Tails, get back,” Sonic said, not taking his eyes off Infinite.

Tails blinked, frowning as he looked over at his blue friend. “But I can fight, Sonic. I want to help.”

“It matters not,” Infinite said. “You will all find your places in the ground.” And then, Infinite flew forward, toward the three of them. Shadow grabbed Tails, and instantly warped him away from the fight. Before the fox could argue, Shadow was gone again, returning to the clearing just in time to watch Sonic dodge Infinite’s claws.

“Missed me!” Sonic taunted, but just as he finished speaking, Infinite’s fist slammed into his chest, sending him flying backwards. Shadow growled and sent his fist soaring toward Infinite’s face, but the masked villain flew backwards.

“Don’t remember me Shadow?” he hummed, looking down at him. “We’ve met before.”

“Have we?” Shadow scoffed. “Apparently you weren’t memorable enough to leave an impression.”

“No, I wasn’t,” Infinite mused. “But I will be today,” he chuckled, before suddenly disappearing into thin air.

Shadow’s eyes widened, going stiff as he looked around, glancing over at Sonic, where he was getting up from being thrown against a tree. “He can use Chaos control.”

Sonic moved a hand to his head, frowning. “What? How is that possible?” he asked, looking around also. Before Shadow could answer, Infinite reappeared beside the blue blur, slamming his foot into Sonic’s stomach and crashing him back into the tree. Sonic grunted, caught off guard and unable to react to Infinite’s attack.

"Chaos control!" Shadow shouted as he lunged after him, growling, but his fist met air as Infinite warped—Shadow couldn't freeze the time around him. He faltered for a split second, stunned by the fact his Chaos control hadn't worked, so Infinite reappear behind him, kicking his back and sending him flying forward. Shadow flipped and landed on his feet, using his shoes to skid to a hovering stop.

“You have greatly underestimated my strength,” Infinite said as he watched Sonic get up with his teeth gritted in pain. “My gift to you should have been taken seriously.”

“What gift?” Shadow snapped.

“The Chaos Emerald,” Eggman suddenly answered, floating into the clearing in his Egg Mobile, wearing a wicked grin, eyeing Sonic. “I can’t believe this day is here. I’ve been waiting to get you out of my hair for years!” he laughed.

Sonic scoffed at him, straightening up. “Well it’s not going to be today, Egg-head.”

“Oh, but it is,” Infinite drawled, flying forward again. Sonic jumped out of the way, landing beside the jackal. Shadow’s next punch would’ve landed if Infinite wouldn’t have warped away again.

“Stop running, asshole!” Shadow yelled angrily. 

“Oh-oh. What a foul mouth,” Eggman said with a sarcastic shake of his head, smirking still. 

Infinite warped back between Sonic and Shadow, leaning to dodge Shadow’s fist, slamming the side of his arm into the younger hedgehog’s chest, sending him flying across the clearing again. Shadow’s heel nearly caught under Infinite’s leg, but he was just too fast—even for them.

“Ugh!” Sonic grunted as he landed hard in the dirt, about to get back on his feet before Infinite warped above him, slamming his foot onto his chest, to keep him on the ground.

“Sonic!” Knuckles suddenly yelled as he ran into the clearing, stopping and raising a fist, the other holding the seventh Chaos Emerald. “You get off him!”

“Another pest to exterminate,” Infinite thought aloud as he looked over at the echidna.

Shadow suddenly snatched the Emerald from Knuckles’ hand. He let out a growl as energy enveloped him. Sonic grinned up at Infinite, grabbing his leg and throwing him off as he lit up gold. Infinite gave a displeased curse as he came to a halt in the air, shielding his visible eye from the bright light that came over the clearing. Eggman raised his arm and squinted, and Knuckles laughed.

“You are so fucked!” the red guardian howled.

The light coming from Super Sonic and Super Shadow dissipated as they both came into view—floating above the ground where they had been seconds ago, golden light shrouding them both. Sonic grinned over at the other hedgehog, and Shadow smirked, before they both flew at Infinite. They were going to grab him together, but before they could Infinite raised both hands and caught them each by their throats, laughing demonically. 

Sonic’s eyes widened and Shadow blinked, both grabbing his arms, to try to get him off.

“That was merely a warm-up,” Infinite laughed, looking between them, his entire body giving off a dull-blue energy. “Now come your deaths.”

The jackal bent one arm and then threw Sonic across the clearing, with such force that he went crashing through dozens of trees. Shadow growled as Eggman laughed with glee.

“You can’t kill me, fool,” Shadow snarled. “I’m immortal.”

Infinite brought him in closer, his grip impossible to break, and Shadow was too distracted to go for the gadget around his neck. “Perhaps once,” he said, “But I, too, use Chaos energy. After all, the only thing that can cut diamond is diamond.”

Shadow blinked once, before pain tore through his entire frame. He yelled out in agony, squeezing his eyes shut as felt each molecule of himself being turned inside out. Infinite ripped his super form from his body and smothered it with his own Chaos energy. The reaction was intense and volatile, practically sending a Chaos blast bursting from them. Shadow couldn’t hear Infinite laughing, blacking out as he was flung to the other side of the opening, crashing into the forest floor, unconscious.

Sonic suddenly came rushing back, slamming right into Infinite, smashing a few more trees as he rammed his fist into the side of the jackal’s skull. “Don’t you touch him!” he growled as he grabbed Infinite, faster now, turning and flying him into the ground, making a small crater with his body.

Knuckles ran to Shadow’s side, having been watching the whole thing helplessly. He may usually be the first one to start a fight, but he knew when he didn’t stand a chance. “Shadow,” he urged, grabbing the dark hero’s shoulders and shaking him hard, as the other two continued to fight. “Wake up, man!”

Shadow’s breath hitched in pain, and he groaned as he gained consciousness, too weak to push Knuckles off. “Wh—” he tried to ask.

Knuckles gave a sigh of relief. “Come on,” he huffed, getting an arm under Shadow’s and helping him to his feet. 

“No, I need to assist Sonic,” Shadow mumbled, eyes shut still, ears ringing from the blast, but he tried to straighten up.

“You’re in no condition to fight. And your communicator is fried.”

Shadow glanced at his wrist, frowning weakly at the sizzling device, which was worthless now. Sonic let out an angry, pained yell, then, and that seemed to tear Shadow from whatever he was feeling as a result of his super form being forced out of him. “Don’t,” he growled loudly, shoving Knuckles away, who frowned. Shadow was about to take off toward Sonic and Infinite, but Sonic zoomed over suddenly.

“Stay,” Sonic said, panting as he shoved Shadow down to the ground, giving him a little grin.

Knuckles eyes widened, looking at Sonic’s chest. He was bleeding, from a slash similar to the one Infinite had given Tails. “I thought you’re supposed to be invincible as Super Sonic,” he breathed in astonishment.

Sonic just grinned at the echidna, before turning back to Infinite, slamming his whole body into him again.

Shadow grit his teeth in pain, trying to get up again as he watched Infinite grab ahold of Sonic and fling him into another tree, toppling it over. “Don’t!” he challenged the jackal.

Infinite looked over, chuckling, practically glowing blue now. “He can watch you die, first,” he said, having not even broken a sweat yet, flying over with impossible speed. Knuckles attempted to stop him but was simply punched and sent toppling into the thicker part of the forest. “I must say, I’m surprised you survived,” Infinite hummed, easily side-stepping to avoid Shadow’s last-resort spin attack, too exhausted and injured for anything else.

“Get him!” Eggman cheered, pointing at Shadow, acting as if they’d already won.

Sonic grabbed their masked enemy before he could attack Shadow, throwing him into the ground on the other side of the clearing. Shadow clenched a fist, regaining some strength, taking off to skate over to the jackal, but Sonic landed in front of him after a few feet.

“What are you—” he was about to ask, but Sonic’s closed hand suddenly cracked on his jaw, pummeling him into a tree, knocking him out.

“Sorry, Faker,” Sonic said with a grin, before turning his attention back to Infinite, who was brushing himself off.

“You cannot win this. You’re too pathetic to even give me a scratch,” he said, before lunging at Sonic. Sonic met him halfway, their two energies locking as they pushed against each other. Infinite’s claws dug into Sonic’s shoulders, piercing his skin, but Sonic kept his eyes locked on him. When the jackal let energy course through his hands to shock Sonic, he gritted his teeth harder but didn’t flinch otherwise.

Shadow stirred awake again, his head pounding—being punched by a super was not easy on the body, even for one designed to take a beating. He groaned to himself, blinking his eyes open, then blinking at Sonic and Infinite. He grabbed the trunk of the tree, using it to stand. 

“Ahhhh!” Sonic yelled out in pain, using all of his strength to fight off Infinite’s attempt to wrench away his super form, just like he’d done to Shadow.

Shadow tensed, composing himself. They were losing this, so he knew he had to make himself ready to join the fight, but when he straightened and refocused his attention on the other two, he frowned. Sonic was peering over at him, as he and Infinite remained linked in an equal fight of power and Chaos energy. He had a little knowing grin on his lips, shaking from the effort.

“Chaos—”

Shadow took a step toward them, just as Knuckles and Tails suddenly ran into the clearing.

“—control!” Sonic yelled, looking back at Infinite.

Suddenly, a bright white light flooded the clearing. Knuckles and Tails raised their arms to shield their eyes. Shadow squeezed his eyes shut. Eggman let out a scream of terror.

When the light disappeared, Shadow opened his eyes, planted where he stood. 

Knuckles dropped his arm and looked over at where Sonic and Infinite had been, but Tails hesitated, peaking over, then blinking.

“Where’d Sonic go?” he asked quietly, as silence fell around them. No one answered, so he dropped his arm and walked over, leaning down to pick up Sonic’s communicator. It was ruined, smoking just a tiny bit, just like Shadow’s. Infinite’s device was in the same condition, also on the ground. “Shadow, where is he?” he asked, turning to the dark hedgehog.

Shadow frowned. He said nothing, looking over at the Egg Mobile. Blood was splattered on the little windshield—human bodies could have bad reactions to being so close to such a Chaos control. Their mission was over.

“Shadow,” Tails repeated, his voice wavering as he walked over to him, looking up at him. “Where is he?”

Shadow looked at him and once again stayed silent and unreadable. 

Tails’ eyes welled up with tears. He shook his head. “No,” he said, looking down at Sonic’s wrecked communicator. “No. No, it’s not fair,” he whimpered.

Knuckles frowned heavily and just looked down at the ground.

“No, Shadow. No. Tell me where he is,” Tails demanded, but his voice cracked as he began to cry. “Where is he?” he asked as he shuffled closer to Shadow, wrapping his arms around him, letting out a sob into his chest. “It’s not fair,” he cried. “No. _No!_ ” Tails wailed, muffled by Shadow’s fur.

Shadow closed his eyes, fists tight at his sides, not hugging the kit back, but he let the boy cling to him. He knew it wasn’t fair, but nothing was ever fair.


	11. I Don't Want to Follow Death and All of His Friends

“Don’t put ideas into his head,” Shadow snapped from the corner of Tails’ living room. 

It had only been a week since Sonic and Infinite had seemingly been wiped from the face of the planet. Amy had decided to throw a little get-together, and Tails agreed to let her host it from his house. Shadow hated the idea—romanticizing Sonic’s death by celebrating his accomplishments angered him greatly.

He wouldn’t have been there for the ‘party’ if he hadn’t taken it upon himself to look after Tails now. The kit was in the worst shape out of everyone. If Shadow wasn’t present for him to settle into every night, Tails wouldn’t be sleeping at all. He was constantly crying and couldn’t keep much food down. Shadow was the only thing preventing him from completely losing himself. 

“All I’m saying is that it might be possible he’s alive,” Knuckles said, shrugging casually, looking over at the hedgehog.

“You may be the guardian of the Master Emerald, but you know nothing about Chaos use,” Shadow scoffed, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Everyone—Tails, Amy, Rouge, and the members of the Chaotix Detective Agency—had gone quiet, staring between the two. 

Knuckles gave him an annoyed look, tensing up where he stood with Amy and Vector. “Watch it.”

The echidna was particularly on edge lately. Losing his closest friend had been topped off with all of the Chaos Emeralds disappearing along with him. The Master Emerald was in some sort of inactive state—it took a lot of convincing from Amy to get him to leave Angel Island for this party.

Shadow straightened from the wall, dropping his arms and clenching his fists at his sides. “And if he were alive, why exactly would he not be here right now?”

“Maybe he needed a vacation.”

Shadow blinked once before clenching his fists even tighter. “What?”

“I said _maybe he needed a vacation_ ,” Knuckles repeated, mocking him by speaking slower. “It wouldn’t be the first time he’s ditched everyone after a big fight.”

“Knuckles,” Amy scolded, frowning at him as Tails’ ears drooped. 

“What? At least he’d be alive if that’s what happened,” Knuckles defended.

“We’re taking this outside,” Shadow growled, and everyone looked over at him.

Knuckles laughed. “Are you kidding me? I’m not going to fight you, dude. You can’t even run yet.”

Shadow had never been weaker in his life—he’d had more energy after waking up from his fall from the ARK—plus he was still healing. His face was bruised from where Sonic had punched him, his body battered from being thrown around by Infinite, but he refused to let Knuckles disrespect Sonic like he was currently doing. 

“And I could still kick your ass.”

Knuckles growled and took a step forward, but Amy grabbed his shoulder to stop him. “Knuckles, don’t,” she said firmly.

“Maybe we should all just calm down here,” Vector said, looking between them worriedly.

“Yeah, Sonic wouldn’t want you guys to fight,” Charmy said nervously from beside Rouge. 

Shadow glanced at the kid, only to look back at Knuckles, eyeing him for a second while they bared their teeth at each other. “Fine,” he huffed, shifting to lean against the wall again.

Knuckles tugged his shoulder out of Amy’s grip. “Who knew fucking Sonic would turn you into such a bitch.”

Shadow snarled and turned to suddenly lunge at him, but because of his weakened state, he was slower than normal, and used most of his energy just attempting to attack him the one time. Knuckles jumped out of the way, just to slam his fist into Shadow’s face, sending him flying to the other side of the room. The hedgehog crashed into a table with a grunt, and before anyone could react, Knuckles was over him and striking him again.

“Stop,” Espio suddenly said, at Knuckles’ side before the echidna could hit Shadow a third time.

Knuckles scoffed and jerked away from the chameleon. “Don’t start a fight you can’t finish,” he growled down at Shadow, before turning on his heel and leaving the house, his form entirely rigid.

Shadow had barely heard him, his ears ringing, blood flowing from his nose and from a cut on his lip, laying in the wood pile that was formerly the table. Rouge sighed and set her drink down on the nearby coffee table, walking over to help Espio grab the dark hedgehog and get him to his feet. They essentially had to carry him to the couch.

“Shadow,” Tails whimpered, sitting down beside him once they had set him down, examining his face as tears formed in his eyes.

Shadow slouched, grimacing in pain.

“Alright, I think this party’s over,” Rouge sighed, watching the hedgehog for a moment.

Amy frowned sadly, looking at Espio, Vector, and Charmy. “Thanks for coming, guys,” she said with an apologetic smile.

“Are ya’ sure ya’ don’t need any help with this?” Vector asked with a frown, glancing over at Shadow.

“I’m sure. Rouge and I can handle it,” Amy sighed.

“If you need us, don’t hesitate to call,” Espio said, moving around the couch to head to the front door.

“We will, thank you.”

Espio gave one last nod, before following Vector and Charmy out. 

“What are we going to do with you?” Rouge said with a shake of her said, heading to the kitchen to grab a towel and some ice. Amy followed her quickly after shutting the front door.

“I can’t lose you too,” Tails said quietly once they were alone, his voice wavering.

“You won’t,” Shadow responded, his voice hollow.

Tails frowned worriedly, his ears flattening as he shifted closer, nudging himself carefully into Shadow’s side. Shadow opened his eyes to glance over at the boy, before looking up at Rouge as she came back. The bat sighed and sat down on the other side of him, going to carefully clean the blood from his face. They looked at each other and said nothing.

“Shadow, what’s going on with you?” Amy asked as she walked over, holding a glass of water for him.

“Nothing,” he said wearily. 

“Shadow—” she tried again.

“ _Nothing_ is going on with me,” he growled at her before closing his eyes tightly and forcing himself not to think. He would gladly not think about any of it—for the rest of eternity, if he had to.

-

The following two months had dragged on painfully slow. Shadow had originally been suspended from G.U.N. for not disclosing his relationship with Sonic, though he hadn’t cared much about being punished—he would’ve quit to take care of Tails anyways. However, his suspension had passed, and they asked him to come back. 

The Chaos Control that Sonic had used was neither entirely natural nor pure. Infinite’s Chaos energy had begun to mix with Sonic’s, they all theorized, and it was that anomaly that caused Chaos energy to tear through the doctor’s body like it was a sheet of paper. Shadow had seen the body himself, but it was difficult, even for him, to look at a man he had once respected laid out on an autopsy table with his guts sealed in bags and piled in a box at his side. Despite Eggman’s death, there were a handful of his fully sentient or semi-sentient bots that liked to cause trouble, and a particularly sneaky one that only Shadow would be able to catch, or so G.U.N. believed.

He was healed now, and even with a lack of Chaos powers, Shadow was arguably the strongest agent available to the organization. Tails was still in just as bad as shape as he had been a week after Sonic’s death, though.

“If you don’t want me to go, I won’t,” Shadow said, eyeing the young fox from across the table in their kitchen. 

“I don’t want to be selfish,” Tails said quietly, ears flattened against his head like they normally were. Today was one of his better days.

“You won’t be.”

Tails paused, but then shook his head, looking down at his half-eaten breakfast. “No, it’s okay,” he said. “If you don’t go more people could get hurt.”

Shadow frowned a tiny bit. “It is not your responsibility to think about that.”

“It kinda is,” he mumbled, looking back at Shadow. “It’s really okay. You said you’d be back by tomorrow morning, right?”

“Yes.”

“And Amy’s coming to stay with me?”

Shadow eyed him again. “Yes, but—”

“No,” Tails interrupted, grabbing one of his tails and rubbing the notch in it—where Infinite had broken it so many months ago. He could fly again now, thanks to Shadow’s exercises and encouragement, but he still fiddled with it when he got nervous. “It’s okay, you can go.”

“Are you sure?”

Tails nodded. “Yeah.”

Shadow looked down at his own plate, and the two of them finished their meals in silence. When Amy arrived, Shadow didn’t waste any time to get going. He knew that the sooner he caught and destroyed this robot, the sooner he could return. Tails had hugged him for an extra-long minute before he had left. 

Finding the robot had been surprisingly more difficult than Shadow thought it would’ve been. It took most of that day, but by early that next morning, he’d taken down a makeshift base it had put up, along with the robots that were under its leadership. He didn’t bother to learn its name before smashing its robotic head to pieces. While there, he’d found intel that the rebel group of robots had been trying to contact Metal—who had escaped G.U.N.’s custody after being partially repaired—but were unsuccessful in doing so.

Shadow was back at the G.U.N. headquarters by nine in the morning, and back to the home he shared with Tails’ by ten. 

When he entered, he tiredly watched Amy jump up from the couch. “Shadow,” she greeted quickly, walking over. “I—Uh.”

Shadow frowned deeply, immediately sensing her uneasiness. “What happened?”

Amy shifted and rubbed her wrist. “Well, nothing. Just, Tails locked himself in his room last night. And—”

Shadow blinked once and snarled. “What? Why didn’t you call me?” he snapped, immediately skating to the stairs, flying up them with two steps, just to grab the doorknob to the fox’s room. “Tails!” he yelled, slamming his fist on the door when the handle wouldn’t budge. “Let me in!”

Amy sprinted up the stairs after him. “I didn’t think it was a big deal! I thought he just wanted to be alone!” she said frantically.

Shadow ignored her, raising his foot and slamming it into the door, completely destroying it. 

Tails was curled up on top of his covers, his namesakes curved around himself. He was shaking and sobbing silently, hands raised to press his ears down, like it was too loud and it was hurting him.

“Tails,” Shadow said quickly, moving to his bedside and grabbing his wrists, pulling his arms down.

Tails blinked his eyes open, more tears welling when he saw Shadow, immediately sitting up and hugging him. “I—I—I—” the kit tried, but Shadow just sat down and pulled him into his arms, hugging him tightly to his chest, frowning worriedly. Tails let out a sob and put all of his weight into the dark hero. “D—Don’t do that again!” he cried, trembling violently. 

“I won’t,” he said firmly, closing his own eyes. It was hard to see Tails like that, no matter how often it happened.

“I—I can’t lose you too!” he wept. “I c—can’t! Don’t leave me. _Don’t leave me!_ ”

Amy covered her mouth with her hands, eyes wide as she watched them from the doorway. Shadow was protective of Tails, he hardly let anyone around. She was the first one to witness just how bad Tails was doing. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered behind her hands, barely audible.

Shadow heard. He glanced over at her, jaw locked. He didn’t have to say anything for her to understand he was telling her to _get out_. She stepped backwards, back into the hall and then hurried downstairs. A moment later, the front door shut behind her.

He turned his attention back to Tails, just holding him as close as physically possible, letting the boy wail into his chest. The bawling never slowed, and eventually he began to dry heave, so Shadow carried him to the bathroom just to be safe. He sat beside Tails, petting his back or head as the boy gagged on his own tears. It took nearly two hours until he fell asleep on the toilet. 

Shadow watched him silently for a minute, and then picked him up and brought him back to his bed, so they could lie down together. He wondered to himself how many times Tails had gotten to that state, before deciding it was pointless to count out something that had practically been happening every alternate day for the past nine weeks and would undoubtedly continue on the same trend. He closed his eyes and listened to the fox’s slow breathing, never finding a wink of sleep himself. He was used to it.

-

“I know he’s going to come back,” Tails said quietly, leaning into his friend’s side as they watched a news segment about the four-month anniversary of the loss of Sonic the Hedgehog. 

Shadow didn’t answer. He gazed at the television, completely exhausted. That’s how it had been for many of the past weeks. Slowly, almost everyone was moving on. The amount of time that passed had really pounded the reality of the situation into everyone but Tails. The fox refused to give up hope. Shadow both envied him and worried about him. It was getting difficult for him to see a future where Tails would be okay with the loss of the person who practically raised him.

“I know you don’t believe that,” Tails continued, turning his head to look up at Shadow, who finally glanced down at him. “But I can believe for the both of us.”

Shadow didn’t know if this was better or worse than the crying. It reminded him of Sonic’s optimism, so it must be worse. “It’s getting late,” he said, looking back at the television as the news moved onto a story about a home and garden show coming up that weekend. “We should go to bed.”

“I know you aren’t sleeping,” Tails whispered, sitting up to look at him. This time, Shadow turned his head to look back at him properly. “I wake up sometimes. I know you’re always awake.”

“I don’t need much sleep,” Shadow said with a small frown.

“You slept a lot when Sonic was around,” Tails reminded. Shadow just frowned more, and Tails’ ears dropped. “I just—It doesn’t seem like you’re that sad, Shadow. I wish you’d tell me how you’re feeling sometimes.”

Shadow stood up. “You’re tired. We are going to bed,” he said firmly.

Tails sighed a little bit and nodded, grabbing the remote to shut off the news before standing. He padded to the stairs, up them, and to his room, with Shadow following close behind. They entered and took their usual position in the bed—Shadow on his back and Tails pressed into his side, under his arm. Shadow had tried to break their habit of it one night by sitting in a chair at Tails’ bedside, but Tails just ended up in one of his—now, much rarer—fits, after being unable to find a comfortable position for hours.

Unlike that time, Tails was out in minutes, and Shadow was left to staring at the ceiling for eight hours.

-

In the morning, they got up to make breakfast, but Shadow frowned when he opened their refrigerator. 

“What’s wrong?” Tails asked, watching him from the kitchen table.

“We need to go on a grocery run.”

Tails sighed. “I don’t feel like going out.”

“Would you rather me go alone?”

“No,” he said a little too quickly, standing up as Shadow closed the fridge door. “But can we just eat out? Amy is better at picking food than you.”

“Fine,” he said, going to lead him out of the kitchen, then out of the house. 

-

They had a nice breakfast. Fortunately, nobody bothered them with apologies of Sonic’s passing or asking them what they’ve been doing since. They got some looks, like usual, but that was nothing Shadow’s glowers couldn’t handle. At some point near the end of their meal, Shadow had felt a weirdly sudden amount of jitteriness, but he knew it was just because of all of the eyes on them. 

“Can we race back?” Tails asked, as they left the little restaurant they had eaten at. 

Shadow glanced at him. “We shouldn’t on full stomachs.” 

“Please? I haven’t stretched my tails in a few days,” he said. Shadow eyed him. A month ago, he would’ve been the one insisting that they race, or even that they both help take down another one of Eggman’s robots that decided it wanted to set some town ablaze. He just wanted Tails to be involved in some activity, but now that the kit was taking initiative to do that on his own—as well as eat without being told every time. Shadow wondered how soon it would be until he got back into his workshop.

“Fine,” he said, setting his foot down and taking off a second later. Tails blinked and then bolted after him, twirling his tails after a few steps so that he could fly and catch up to Shadow. Luckily, they weren’t too far from their home, so Tails managed to keep up the entire way. When they got to the front door, Tails would’ve collapsed if Shadow hadn’t turned to catch him.

“That was fun,” he said breathlessly, his muzzle red from exertion, though he was smiling slightly—that was more common nowadays, too. 

“It was,” Shadow agreed, helping him stand properly once he’d caught his breath, eyeing his expression. He thought it seemed like, maybe subconsciously, Tails was really beginning to be okay with Sonic’s absence, even despite what he said last night. Or maybe it was just deep, deep denial.

When the fox had caught his breath, he straightened up and gave Shadow a little thumbs up, before entering their house. Shadow followed him, but after the first step, they both stopped in their tracks, blinking.

“About time you two got back,” Sonic grinned from the couch. They both watched the blue hedgehog with wide eyes as he grabbed the arm of the seat and used it to stand up. He grimaced as he got to his feet, his chest clumsily wrapped with gauze, which he was already bleeding through. “What took you so long?” he said with a pained smirk.

Before Tails could say anything, Shadow had charged around him, ramming his shoulder into Sonic’s chest with such force that Sonic was launched through the far wall of the house. Sonic winced when he hit the ground in the rubble, moving an arm across his torso where his injuries were throbbing.

“Okay, I know I deserved that,” he muttered, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment as Shadow stepped through the hole he’d left in the wall.

“Where the _fuck_ have you been?” he growled, fists clenched at his sides, instantly shaking with rage. 

Sonic blinked his eyes open and looked up at him. “Huh?”

“Don’t play games, hedgehog,” Shadow snapped. “Tell me where you’ve been.”

Sonic tried to sit up, but Shadow’s shoe came down on his chest and he yelped in pain. “What are you talking about?” he breathed, grabbing his leg to try to get him off, but he was too weak to make him budge. 

“You left Tails. Do you know what that’s done to him?” Shadow yelled. “I should fucking _kill you_ ,” he snarled. 

Sonic’s ears flattened. “What are you talking about?!” he tried desperately. 

“Shadow!” Tails blurted, suddenly at the dark hedgehog’s side, grabbing his arm and trying to tug him off of Sonic. “Look at his chest! Those are the cuts Infinite gave him!”

Shadow stepped back when he was tugged at, watching Sonic flinch and then move an arm across his body again, trying to protective himself. That’s when he noticed the burn on his wrist, too. “Explain yourself,” he scowled.

Sonic peaked an eye open to look up at him and Tails. “Explain what? I defeated Infinite twenty minutes ago. What’s there to explain?”

Shadow and Tails both stared at him. “What?” Tails squeaked out. 

Sonic looked between them, before his ears flattened again. “What do you mean, ‘what’?” he asked. “Has it not been that long?”

“It’s been four months,” Shadow said, much more calmly, his mind racing for the first time in that amount of time.

Sonic frowned, finally sitting up, grimacing again. “Four months?” he asked, sounding shocked. “But I used Chaos Control just a minute ago. Afterward, I just dropped to the ground out of my super form.”

Tails smiled widely, immediately dropping to his knees to hug Sonic. “I knew you were okay. I knew you would come back,” he whispered, tears of happiness forming in his eyes. Sonic frowned sadly but moved his arms around Tails. After a moment, the boy pulled away, keeping an arm around his best friend and helping him up to his feet. “Come on, we need to patch you up,” he said, going to bring him back inside. 

Shadow watched them, but after he re-entered the house, he moved for the front door.

“Shads?” Sonic breathed, eyeing him as Tails walked him over to the table, sitting him down in a chair.

“I am not going to help you.”

Sonic blinked once, but Tails frowned. “You have to,” he said, watching Shadow pause in the still-open doorway. “Shadow?”

“ _No_ ,” he snapped, fists clenching as he turned back, looking at Sonic. “ _You_ took me out of that fight, hedgehog.”

“Huh?” Sonic asked, looking confused. 

“ _You_ punched me and told me ‘stay’, yet _you_ were the one who ensured we couldn’t be defeated _together_ ,” he growled, his voice raising again. “You said we wouldn’t lose, but we did.”

“No we didn’t,” Sonic tried with a worn out smile. “Infinite—” he started, but Tails cut him off.

“We lost you,” the fox said meekly, looking down at Sonic sadly, thinking about what Shadow said. 

“You lied,” Shadow said.

Sonic’s shoulders sagged when Shadow said that, looking over at him. “I was scared, okay? He’d taken your super form out of you like it was nothing. And I thought—I thought—” he tried, but he didn’t know what he thought—he’d only done the whole thing minutes ago. 

“You decided to be a fucking hero,” he huffed, turning to leave again.

“Shadow!” Tails squeaked, causing the older hedgehog to stop and look back at him. “I can’t patch him up. Please,” he said quietly.

Shadow eyed the fox for a minute, before frowning even more. “Go get the medical kit from the bathroom,” he said, walking over and grabbing another chair. Tails smiled and gave a prompt nod, running off upstairs as Shadow moved the chair in front of Sonic, sitting down. He grabbed the gauze from the other hedgehog’s chest and began to unwrap it. 

Sonic watched him. “Hey, I’m sorry,” he said. “But everything ended up okay,” he added with a reassuring smile, going to gently grab his hand, but Shadow tugged it away before he could even be touched.

“Don’t think I still feel the same about you,” he said firmly, examining the claw marks in his chest, then the burn that Sonic’s communicator had left on his wrist.

Sonic blinked. “What?”

“It’s been four months,” he scoffed.

“But, just last night—"

“Not last night, _four months ago_ ,” Shadow reiterated, just as Tails came back with the red kit he’d fetched.

Sonic frowned, watching Shadow pull out antiseptic wipes, butterfly stitches, burn salve, and more gauze from the kit. It all stung—worst of all what his boyfriend, or former boyfriend, said to him. Shadow worked in silence as he placed the stitches and gauze over the slashes on Sonic’s chest, but when he moved onto his wrist, Tails tried to break the silence as he stood by and watched. The kit had been looking forward to Shadow and Sonic’s reunion just as much as his own with Sonic. 

“It’s a good thing your communicator was just on your wrist, otherwise that could’ve been a lot worse,” he said quietly, hopeful to elicit a response from either of them. Sonic glanced over at him, too drained to give him more than a smile. Shadow didn’t say anything, just finished wrapping Sonic’s wrist after applying the salve. 

“Take him to his room,” Shadow said, tearing off the end of the gauze after he’d wrapped it around his chest again, having already finish with his wrist. Tails gave a disappointed sigh but then nodded, moving an arm around Sonic’s waist and helping him to his feet. Shadow also stood, though, and stopped them, holding out his hand to Sonic. “I know the Emeralds are back, and I know you have one,” he said, finally recognizing what that jitteriness had meant back at the restaurant. 

Sonic eyed him, frowning as he reached into his quills to pull out the blue Chaos Emerald, handing it over to Shadow.

The dark hedgehog stayed on the first floor as Tails assisted Sonic up to his room, gripping the Emerald tightly as he glared down at it. 

-

Sonic had fallen asleep within thirty seconds of being helped onto his bed. By the time he woke up, the evening had come and gone. He was completely drained. He could’ve slept more, if he hadn’t peaked an eye open to find Shadow leaning against the wall by the closed door.

“Tails asked me to watch you,” Shadow said before he could be asked about it, arms crossed, one leg bent up so he could rest his foot on the wall.

“Oh,” he said, using his elbows to sit up. The two hedgehogs looked at each other for a moment.

Sonic had no idea what had really happened. He had just used Chaos Control as a last-ditch attempt to prevent Infinite from stealing away his power. If that had happened, there was no way they could’ve defeated that jackal. He wondered if asking Silver for his help would’ve prevented this whole mess.

“I know how pissed you are at me, but I know we can work through it,” he said with a tired little smile. 

“I have no interest in rekindling my relationship with you.”

Sonic grinned. “Aw, I know that isn’t true, Faker,” he said, but when Shadow frowned more and said nothing, Sonic frowned a little too. “You would’ve done the same thing if you were in my position, so that’s not fair.”

“Don’t tell me what’s fucking fair,” he growled, pushing himself from the wall and dropping his arms, seething. “I _trusted_ you.”

“And you can still trust me.”

“ _Tch!_ ”

“I’ll prove it to you,” Sonic said with a little smirk, carefully moving his legs off the side of the bed, going to wobblily stand.

Shadow blinked. “Sit back down, fool,” he huffed.

“No,” he said, straightening, grimacing slightly. “I’m going to prove that you can still trust me. No matter how long it takes.”

Shadow gave him an annoyed look, watching Sonic slowly shuffle toward the door. However, when he got closer, within arm’s reach, he fatigued and collapsed. On instinct, Shadow reached out and grabbed him. Sonic grabbed onto him and winced, squeezing his eyes shut. “Okay, okay. Got up too fast,” he breathed. Shadow put his hands on his sides and guided him back onto the bed, but when he tried to pull away, Sonic held on.

“Let go,” he demanded.

Sonic didn’t wait for a second—instead of letting go, he tugged Shadow down with as much strength as he could muster, leaning up a tiny bit to smash a fumbling kiss to his lips. Shadow’s eyes went wide and he wrenched away from Sonic’s grip, grabbing his shoulder and raising a fist. Sonic blenched, squeezing his eyes shut and expecting the blow, but when it didn’t come, he opened his eyes to look up at Shadow. 

“ _Chaos_ ,” the dark hedgehog sighed as his anger melted away, suddenly jumping Sonic before he could think about it. Sonic startled and gave a soft laugh when Shadow shoved his face right into the crook of his neck, pushing him back on the bed.

“Wow, I didn’t think you’d come around so fast,” he chuckled.

“Quiet,” Shadow said, nuzzling into his neck, then down to his collarbone, ignoring the fact that Sonic was bandaged up there. Sonic winced but grinned as Shadow sat up above him and slid his hand down his chest, to his waist, then back up to his shoulder. They were watching each other—Sonic letting Shadow refamiliarize himself with every inch of his skin. It was chaste and loving, Shadow just running his hands over his arms and stomach and hips, over and over again. He eventually sunk down at Sonic’s side, burying his face into his chest, an arm and a leg slung over him.

It was the first time he slept in four months.

-

When Shadow woke up, he was clinging to Sonic just as he had been when he’d fallen asleep. Sonic was awake—he could tell by his breathing—but was completely still, with his arms wrapped around him.

Shadow was practically on top of him, so he shifted slightly, trying to move his weight from the other hedgehog. Sonic’s arms tightened around him. “Don’t change your mind,” he whispered, opening one eye to glance at him.

“I won’t,” he said quietly, looking back at him. Sonic smiled a tiny bit, turning onto his side so they were facing each other. They each draped an arm around each other, and Shadow raised his other so he could cup Sonic’s cheek. 

When Sonic leaned in, he met him halfway. 

To Sonic, it had literally been yesterday, but Shadow had to ease back into it. They kissed slowly for a long, long while, eventually licking into each other’s mouths. They were careful with each other, like the whole thing might shatter at any given moment. When they broke the kiss, Sonic turned Shadow over, straddling one of his legs and looking down at him. They were both blushing.

“You’re not very tired,” Shadow said, sliding his arms up and over his shoulders.

“What about it?” Sonic asked with a tiny grin, leaning down to press a kiss to his muzzle, then his neck. 

Shadow’s eyes fell shut. “I could barely stand the day after the battle.”

“Well I am stronger than you.”

He smiled just faintly, hidden from Sonic’s view. “The Chaos Emeralds were gone.”

“Uh-huh, sure.” They both smiled into it when Sonic moved his lips back to Shadow’s, kissing him a little deeper. Sonic slipped between Shadow’s legs after a moment. He rested his hips down and pulled away at the same time, pressing kisses to Shadow’s neck again. 

“I missed you,” he whispered. 

Sonic smiled more, kissing him affectionately. Rather than responding, he paused for a split second before gingerly sinking his teeth into the soft flesh of his neck. Shadow shuddered silently, grabbing his quills. He turned his own head, getting a mouthful of Sonic’s shoulder and biting him in return. 

Shadow didn’t understand why he had forgiven Sonic the instant he’d been kissed. He should’ve been angrier, or actually had hit him, but he couldn’t bare the loss of his presence. He never dealt with it or thought about it—refused to, even—but as soon as that blue blur had reappeared, he thought anger was the only thing he had been feeling. It had just been a disguise for the longing that had finally caught up to him. 

They didn’t have to speak as they both discarded their gloves—that of which Sonic had never removed. They kicked off their shoes, and Shadow set aside his new communicator, their lips finding each other’s again. Sonic pulled away shortly just to reach over to his nightstand, pulling the drawer open to find that the lubricant they’d put there hadn’t been moved.

Shadow watched Sonic sit back, pop open the tube, and squirt some onto his fingers. A minute later, he was gasping and closing his eyes as the blue blur eased a finger into him. He let him figure it out—find a nice rhythm, curl his finger, find that perfect spot inside of him. Sonic finally moved his other hand to the bulge between Shadow’s legs as his second finger pushed inside of him. 

After a few minutes, Sonic was coating his own length with lube and pressing himself into Shadow. Sonic kissed him again, grabbing one of his hands and pinning it to the bed, lacing their fingers together. He set an easy pace of his hips, licking into his mouth, panting through his nose. Shadow had to turn his head to catch his breath, wrapping his legs around Sonic’s hips. 

They came together, making a mess, and Sonic collapsed at Shadow’s side, taking heavy breaths, blushing brightly. Shadow was panting too, but he turned his head to watch Sonic’s flushed face.

“I love you,” Shadow whispered, feeling full and heavy but too drowsy and content to care. 

Sonic opened his eyes to look back at him, giving him a lopsided smile—the one Shadow had been aching for, for months. “I love you,” he whispered back.

The two heroes laid admiring each other, Sonic eventually turning over and pressing his face into Shadow’s chest fur, snaking his hand up to graze his fingers over the bite mark he’d left on his neck.

-

-

-

When Sonic and the Chaos Emeralds had been blipped back into existence, Sonic came back in the exact spot he’d left in—in the middle of that little clearing. When he had panicked and used Chaos Control, he didn’t know he was sending himself, and the Emeralds, four months into the future in the process.

The Chaos Emeralds had spread like they normally did after he’d gone super, but he had gotten lucky enough that one of them didn’t go far—just to the entrance of that forest.

There had been no sign of Infinite. 

There had been no sign of Infinite there at that clearing because Sonic had not only sent him four months into the future, but as far away as he could manage while using that much unstable power.

At the same time Sonic and the Chaos Emeralds reappeared, Infinite fell to the ground at exactly the same spot on the opposite side of the planet. 

The jackal shakily pushed himself onto his hands and knees, gritting his teeth as he moved one hand to his chest, where he’d been burned by Eggman’s ambient Chaos energy device, seemingly just as Sonic had been burned by his communicator. Underneath him, his mask lay cracked in two halves. After he composed himself, he sat back on his heels as he examined it, reaching down to pick them up, but he hesitated. He thought for a second, and suddenly, rather than grabbing them, he crushed both parts of his old mask into the ground, snarling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Although a series has been added, the sequel has been delayed indefinitely. Sorry for the inconvenience, but it will come at some point in the future (hopefully). 
> 
> Please feel free to give me a follow on [tumblr](https://sonic-bros.tumblr.com)—you can ask me questions there, and I take ficlet requests from time to time!
> 
> Also, please leave comments and let me know how you liked this fic! Even though the sequel hasn't been planned yet, it would mean a lot to me! (:


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